Jacob's Journey
by Ginko-san
Summary: The 17 year old pokemon trainer, Jacob, has finally started his journey in Kanto. He decides to help a 12 year old girl with a dark past defeat a revived, and more threatening, Team Rocket. His friends from across the world join him to overcome this new obstacle, while also competing for fame and glory in the Kanto-League. His plans go up in ashes as Rocket unveils their new weapon
1. Ch 1: Daycare & A Suprise

Author's note: There are details in this story that don't follow what is canon about the games and manga, such as a 17 year old on his adventure... I just don't see a 10 year old boy have a major love interest or know anything complicated about travel other than "GO THAT WAY". I think its more realistic with a more mature protagonist, but you'll get the best of the world you're used to when I introduce my second protagonist, next chapter. So without further adieu, please enjoy reading my story as much as I enjoy writing it. If it even piques your interest a little bit just keep reading, i promise you'll enjoy it!

Chapter 1

It was around 4:00 when Jacob walked slowly out of the Pokemon Center and crossed the road. As he walked a small green creature scurried across the road behind him. The Bulbasaur was never one to realize something quickly, but it was more than doing its job right in more ways than one. The grass pokemon and the now 17 year old boy had known eachother for a few months now, and it had just helped Jacob capture his second Kanto badge in Cerulean City. Although the Bulbasaur wasn't his first pokemon, Jacob still liked the little bud a lot. He called it back into its Great Ball, and gently said to the ball, "Good work today." Then he slowly started walking in the direction of Saffron City.

He is a tall, somewhat muscular teenager, with short black hair and hazel eyes. Wearing only sweatpants and a loose-fitting t-shirt, he had decided long ago that he was going to be a great pokemon battler, and possibly make it as a gym leader one day. He was heading towards Vermilion as he wanted to quickly gain his third badge; but knew he would have a tough time only with a Bulbasaur, a Beldum he had recieved in a trade with his friend from the Hoenn Region, and his first pokemon, which was a gift from his parents as a baby, Munchlax. He especially loves the normal and steel types. He idolizes the gym leaders Norman and Whitney for their utmost skill as normal pokemon trainers. His favorite trainer though was none other than Steven Stone; the famous ex-Champion archaeologist who ran Steel type pokemon better than anyone else. He relished the thought of meeting someone he had worshipped since seeing his epic battles as a Champion on television, and hoped to somewhere along his travels.

As he left the town, he let the Munchlax he held dear out of its Pokeball. It materialized in front of him, looking groggy, and sleepy.

"C'mon Munch, we got some work to do today," said Jacob, as they begin walking down the long dirt path. The Munchlax sluggishly followed his owner step by step, stopping occasionally to admire some of the fruit in the nearby trees. Jacob begins shouting from ahead to stop dawdling and hurry, they were nearing their first destination. It is a large house with an even larger fenced-out area behind it. He can see many different pokemon froclicking together in the grass and man-made lakes built by the owners of the pokemon day-care center. You can also see an older man, who looked to be in his late 60's, filling up bowls with several different kinds of pokemon feed, and a younger woman, who looks quite possibly to be the older man's daughter (she was actually his daughter-in-law), filling buckets with water so the pokemon had some clean water to drink. There are a few exotic pokemon not native to Kanto behind the fence, most notably a Turtwig and a Mime Jr. that were playing with a Litwick.

Jacob sees the old man and begin talking to him, asking about his how his friend Leonard's Poochyena is doing. The man responded with a firm nod and an assuring, "He's doing great, he loves all the other pokemon here!"

Jacob's friend, Leonard, was always a bit slow when it came to training his pokemon, but always took the best care of his pokemon. Leonard was the son of the younger woman who was now filling bowls with the water from the buckets she filled earlier. He inherited his mother's black hair and brown eyes, but his excitedness and pokemon-know how came from his father's side of the family, who originally ran the day-care center. His good side was knowing how to love a pokemon; he always knew exactly how to please it. He also memorized all of the varioius pokemon's different quirks and natures and can connect with them at a level Jacob could only hope to attain. It was amazing what a 16 year old could do when he puts his mind to it.

Surely enough as Jacob turns to leave, a boy as tall as Jacob wearing blue jeans, and a striped T-shirt comes barreling out of the house with his pokemon egg in hand, exclaiming "LOOK! LOOK JACOB! ITS STARTING TO GLOW!"

The small pink and white egg indeed began glowing. First it was a soft, white light extenuating from the tips, then the light made its way towards the middle from both ends as it grew in intensity. After a small flash of brightness there was no more egg, but instead a small egg-shaped pokemon. It jumped up into the air happily and shouted for joy as it hugged the face of its first friend. "Wow! Who knew a pink egg would turn out to be a Happiny! I thought for sure it would've been a dopey Slowpoke!"

"Yes that is something Lenny," Jacob said as the pink puffball continually jumps up and down in Len's hands.

Len turns back towards the house and yells, "Look! It's so adorable! Right sis?" That's when a slender figure, clad in cargo-shorts and a light blue tanktop, who was only slightly shorter than Jacob turns out from the house. She has brownish-blonde hair, cut down to her shoulders, and beautiful grey-green eyes that you could see clearly though her oval glasses. She smiles and skips over to the Happiny in her brother's hands and awe-inspired let out a long "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH! IT'S SOOOO CUTE!" She patted its little head and giggled along with the adorable creature. She asked adorably if she could keep it, and mock-cried when her brother refused straight off. It was hard to believe she was the same age as Jacob.

"Knock it off Alex!" pleaded Len as he holds the newborn away from his older sister. In the confusion, the Munchlax awakes from its improvised slumber, and decides to watch this new form of entertainment over getting some shut-eye he didn't need. It liked the idea of a new pokemon causing some mischeif, and started to laugh as chaos ensued between the siblings. After a few minutes, Alex decides to finally give up and hops the wooden fence to play with the pokemon. She begins to pet an Azumarill that obviously belongs to her, and at the same time fed it some pink pokeblocks. Although primitive, she knew the pink pokeblocks raised the cuteness of a pokemon. She wants to enter contests and not have to stay at home to raise pokemon that weren't hers. As much as she loved pokemon in general, she only held a true eye for her own adorable ones.

Jacob nervously skwaks up words towards Alex and says "Hey, i'm headed t-towards Viridian, and I know Saffron is having a c-contest soon, so I was wondering... Do you want to come with me?"

She sighs and says "I'd like to but my parents want me here" and makes an adorable pout.

After about a half hour of talking with Leonard and Alex he decides to leave for Saffron City with Munchlax in tow. He was walking for about a half-hour southward and noticed something, off... he had gained a visitor. It must have gotten away from its group and started to follow Munchlax knowing of its normal-type counterpart. The Togepi probably had followed him from the daycare. It wasn't a short walk away, so he picked up the little thing, and it began to wail. This woke Munchlax from its daydreaming and sent it into a tizzy as well. Jacob says to the hyper-active Munchlax, "Dude, calm down. We'll just bring this back to the daycare," and that calms it down a bit somehow.

When he returned he saw Alex playing with her pokemon. He beckoned her from the other side of the fence and she jumped up and squealed from fright. After taking a few deep breaths she walked over and slapped him exclaiming, "You scared me!"

Jacob began laughing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Alex saw the Togepi in Jacob's arms, and asked innocently, after another long and drawn out fawning over its adorable smile, "Awwwww! Where'd you get it!"

"I found it along the side of the road following me, I thought it came from here so I came back to return it."

"But..." Alex frowns, "We didn't have a Togepi staying with us..." She holds a thought for a second, then smiles and says, "If you don't want it can I keep it!"

With a smile on his face he said, "No, i think i'm gonna keep the little thing," as he looks down at the now sleeping Togepi in his arms. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a black pokeball with gold trim. Alex gasps loudly at the Luxury Ball asking Jacob, "Where in the world did you get such a ball?"

He explains, "My grandfather gave it to me. He said to use it for a special pokemon." He softly touched it to the Togepi's head and it silently dematerializes and enters the ball. The ball shakes, and then stops, signaling the successful catch. He gingerly returns the ball to its bag and looks down at Munchlax. It fell asleep again. He decided to return it to its ball, reasoning that it got enough excersise today. As the sun sets behind him it shines brightly on Alex's face; Jacob has a mini-heart attack because the sun looks so beautiful reflecting from Alex's eyes.

She breaks his concentration on her face when she says, "Well congratulations on the Togepi, I hope it's happy with you!"

Jacob looks into her eyes, "There's nothing to worry about. I'll treat it as well as I'd treat... never mind it."

"Treat what?"

"Nah forget it Alexandra."

She giggles at the use of her full first name.

"Well i'll be off then"

"Wait, don't you need something to eat?" He hesitates, then continues on down Route 5 and says, "No, I'll be fine, thanks anyways!"

"Be safe Jacob!"

"Don't worry, I will!" He smiled as he continues walking away. Luxury ball in hand. "I think i'll name you something... Hmm...

"Alexandra is a nice name for a cute pokemon..."


	2. Ch 2: Strange Encounter & Strange Girl

Author's note: Released sooner than expected, but I figured if I gave more chapters, more people would read and be interested (actually that was my little brother's idea but I'm claiming it as my own). Enjoy, rate, subscribe, and have fun reading please.

Chapter 2

It was dusk now. The moon began shining dimly in the cloudless evening, and Jacob decided to make camp here for the night. Beldum silently floated next to him as he fumbled around in his large back-pack looking for the retractable tent-poles. After 10 minutes of aggrivated work, the shabby tent served as an okay shelter. He grabs a small blanket from the bag and lines the inside of the tent with it. It wasn't the best floor bu-

Beldum reacts defensively, and moves back towards Jacob staring only at the location of the rustling sound. Jacob now catching on to what's happening asks, "Hello? Who's there?"

No response, just constant rustling of the bushes under a small oak tree.

"Beldum, take down." The steel hammer then throws itself recklessly at the base of the bush. As it slams into the ground an Eevee jumps up into the air with a Cherri berry in its mouth and runs back down the dirt road towards Saffron. A few moments later an enraged little girl of about 12 comes into view, running down the path directly at Jacob while holding a now whimpering Eevee.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY EEVEE!" she began to holler as she stormed down the road. "You could've hurt her!" At a first glance you'd never think a girl half his size, with small brown pigtails, big round blue eyes, a green hooded sweatshirt and pink shorts would cause such a ruckus. After apologizing profusely and blaming the suspiciousness in a rustling bush at night causing him to attack, the girl reluctantly said "ok, fine, I'll forgive you... On one condition!"

"Sure kid, what is it?"

She ponders this for a while. Considering she already knew that there was going to be a condition, he thought she would have known what the condition was at least. After a few more seconds she grins deviously: "I want you to help me."

"Help you with what?"

"Win my next badge!"

"I can help you get to Pewter City, but I already have a Boulder bad-"

"NO! I already have the first two badges! Seee~!" She reveals two small Pins on the inside of her jacket. He was astounded by the fact that as a trainer, he was on the same level as someone so immature. After inspecting the badges, the Eevee, and the bundle of sunshine standing in front of him, he gave his answer:

"Fine, I'll help you. But only becuase I need the Thunderbadge too!"

She snickers and responds, "Thanks big bro!"

"Since when was I your brother?"

She giggles, "Since now stupid."

He contemplates putting the intrigued Beldum back into its ball, but decided against it seeing as it was also apologizing to the Eevee for what happened earlier. That's when the little girl took a look at the strange pokemon (how she didn't notice it before was beyond Jacob). "WHOA! WHERE'D YOU GET THAT?"

"My friend Bill from Hoenn sent it to me. I mentioned to him that I liked the steel types and loved Steven Stone as a battler, so he decided one day to send me Beldum, which is the unevolved form of Steven's favorite pokemon." She wasn't paying attention to the little story at all, staring at the floating metallic being before her. "Did you hear a word I said?"

"Huh?"

"That answered my question!" He picks up Beldum's ball, it was a Timer Ball, frankly catching this little bugger was more trouble than it was worth, but Bill still happily parted with it for the sake of one of his best friends. He throws it up and commands Beldum to return to its ball. Without showing emotion it dematerializes and shoots itself into the airborne ball. As the ball falls back into Jacob's hand the little girl pouts, complaining "I wanted to play with it!"

"Some other time kid... hey, what is your name by the way?"

"Heidi!" she exclaims witih a smile. "What's your's bro?"

"Jake, but you can keep it at bro," for some reason he enjoys the thought of being an older brother figure. He has an older sister who is still at home so he wouldn't know what it's like to be a role model. She has a lot of responsibilities back in Celadon city so it's only natural that she's unable to contact him regularly. Being only slightly shorter than he is, E-

"So what pokemons do you have big bro? I got an Eevee that my daddy won me in Celadon, a Oddish I caught today, a Squirtle i got from Professor Oak, and... OH!-" She jumps up in a flurry of wild movements- "I forgot to get my Hootie at the Daycare! He probably misses me so much!" As she makes to run towards the place he just was, Jacob plucks her off of the ground with little effort. She struggles to be released from his grip and wails "I need to go get Hootie!"

"Calm down Heidi, look, its dark out. Why don't you stay here and I'll go pick up your Hoothoot." After considering her not having to walk all the way back to the Daycare, she smiles and says "Okay! But leave me with Beldum! I wanna play with it!"

"I'll do ya one better," Jacob reaches to his belt and picks off the only black ball. He tosses it up and out comes the Togepi he caught earlier in the day. Once again, there was a long minute of exclaiming how cute the Togepi is. Jacob gives her the Luxury ball and says "I just caught it today. Be sure to keep a good watch over Alexandra-"

"And you named it too? What a cute name! Hi Alexandra!"The Togepi Trills with glee and scurries over to the little girl's Eevee. They immediately hit it off and start playing around the shabby tent Jacob pitched earlier. Heidi hands him a white ball- a Premeir Ball. He assumes its the Hoothoot's ball, turns away and proclaims, "I'll be back soon!"

"Tell Hootie I missed him!"

"I won't forget."

He pulls a flashlight from his pocket, turns it on, and begins walking back toward the house. It isn't going to be a particularly long walk, but he'll probably return to the campsite long after Heidi and the pokemon fall asleep. It had gotten dark quickly, even though it was turning from Spring to Summer, but Jacob wasn't concerned. It was probably only around 7:30 now- after checking his watch he confirms that it is 7:27, close enough- and it would only take an hour to get back to the Daycare... give or take. He didn't mind it though, it gave him an excuse to see Alexandra again. He still can hear the giggling and playful cheering as he walked back towards Cerulean.


	3. Ch 3: Revisiting & A Wonderful Girl

Author's note: Here's chapter 3. I'll probably post the other ones I already have either weekly or bi-weekly from here on out. For those of you that enjoyed the first two here's the third one to essentially set up the beginning of the story. Continue reading and wait for my next chapters. (But I may release them early if i have enough people saying they want it, hahaha) Please Enjoy

Chapter 3

He walked up to the big white house yet again. It is now around 8:45, as Jacob looks down to check his watch. Nope, it's 9:00. He sighs, and starts banging on the door. Leonard answers after maybe the 12th or 13th bang.

"HEY! What do you- oh its Jacob, what are you back for?"

"I'm here to pick up a Hoothoot for a friend."

"You know we aren't allowed to give trainers other peoples pokemon un-"

Knowing what Len will say next, Jacob pulls out the white pokeball. Jacob explained how he ran into a little girl and that it was too dangerous for her to walk all the way here alone. Len says he remembers the girl leaving it here then heading for Vermilion as well. He stop, thinks, and asks,

"If you thought it was dangerous for her to walk alone, why'd you leave her at the campsite?"

Now seeing the flaw in his logic, Jacob pushed aside the question and said "Just let me go get her Hooite and be on my merry way, shall we?"

Len lets him in and they both walk through the gigantic house. It is a center hall Colonial, The main hallway being about 50 feet long with large rooms each to the right and to the left. He passes the living room, play room (for the smaller pokemon), the dining room (also for pokemon), the family's dining room, the kitchen- there standing washing dishes was Alexandra; she could make even a simple task look elegant and beautiful. The way she- Jacob was semi-violently pushed out the back door while he was processing these thoughts. Len continued to push him all the way to what looked like a small barn. It wasn't too shabby but it protected the larger pokemon from the weather that was for sure. Who knows how many pokemon have slept and eaten in that barnhouse. Jacob is pushed to the side of the barn that you can't see from the house, and there was something resembling a small version of the barn. It was bird-pokemon specific. Len crawls into the front hole, and comes popping out of the front with a rather small Hoothoot with a purple bow below its beak. Heidi must've put it there to make Hootie look cute or adorable, but Jacob thought it looked classy instead.

"Hello Hootie."

Hoothoot stared back blankly at him, then jumped out of Len's arms. It continued to stare directly into Jacobs eyes. Maybe it is reading his mind? Whatever the Hoothoot was doing it doesn't matter because as soon as it sees the white ball, the Hoothoot started to skwak.

"Calm down Hootie, i'm here for Heidi. I've come to take you back to her."

At the mention of its owner's name, the Hootie stops skwaking and gleefully flies around Jacob and Len. Jacob called it back into the Premeir ball and it happily went in, knowing that soon it would re-unite with its master. Len starts to giggle.

"What?"

More giggling as Len tries to keep a straight face.

"What's so fu-"

He feels a jolt in both of his sides which makes him jump and squeal at the same time. He quickly turns around to see the perpetrator: it is Alexandra now snickering along with Len. He scowls at both of them, knowing his only weakness and using it to surprise him was somewhat funny, but because Alexandra was the one that did it he wasn't mad long.

"Damn woman! You could've killed me!"

"Yeah, right, I'm just having a little fun! What brings you back here?"

He sighs and reluctantly tells the story of the loud-mouthed little girl forcing him to help her for the time being. Alexandra, concerned, responds with, "If you thought it was dangerous for her to walk alone, why'd you leave her at the campsite?"

"That's what I said!" piped up Len.

"Be quiet Lenny," said Jacob sarcastically. He pushes away the question again. They continued to talk for another 10 or so minutes.

"Well I have to get going, I don't want to leave Heidi alone for too long."

"Ok, well, we'll see you later!" Alexandra said with a smile.

Jacob smiled back, "I'll see you!"

He walked back around the house and made for Route 5 again. He whistles as he walks back to the campsite.

* * *

It is now around 10 PM when he finally reaches the campsite. Worn from walking for four straight hours, he makes for the tent. Heidi, in her infinite wisdom, lay smack in the center of the tent with Eevee and the Togepi on either side of her. Jacob takes the black ball from the corner of the tent, Heidi probably threw it there, and returns Alexandra to her ball. He pushes Heidi to the side to make room for himself, then he lays next to her, but with his back turned to her on his side. He remembers something, and gets up. He crawls over to his bag, pulls out Hootie's ball, and gently places it in between Heidi and her Eevee. He smiles at the adorable sight, lays back down, and goes to sleep.

Not much longer later the girl rustles herself awake, and sees the mass next to her. She gasped but then stifled it as quickly as she could seeing that it was only Jacob. She looks around in her half-awake state and notices the white ball the Eevee is cradling. She smiles in joy and looks back to her "big brother". She whispers "Thanks!" and pushes herself up against his back. She slowly falls asleep again.


	4. Ch 4: Saffron City & An Unusual Battle

Author's note: This is going to be the last irregular update for this story. I'm going to try to update it every Sunday-Tuesday, but mostly on Mondays so its more consistent. Look forward to chapter 5!

Chapter 4

"I'm huuuungry! When are we going to stop to eat?"

"In a bit, Saffron is just up ahead."

They can see the skyline of the city from where they were walking. It was getting close to lunchtime as well, hence the complaining from Heidi.

"But I'm hungry noooooooow!"

"Yeah, well I'd feed you if you didn't eat three sandwiches for breakfast this morning!"

"But I was even hungrier then!"

Jacob shrugs and lowers his head. "Ugh, why do I try?"

"Because you love me big bro!"

"I'd love you even more if you saved me something to eat! That was my food you know!"

She puts on the cutest face he's ever seen, she makes huge puppy-dog eyes and starts filling up, like she's about to cry.

"Oh please don't cry! I'm sorry!"

"Ha! Gotcha!" Heidi gleefully skips ahead in her triumph over manipulation of human emotion. "Nobody ever resists my adorable face!"

"Wow, you really don't sound full of yourself."

"Oh shut up."They continue walking for about 30 more minutes, and finally make it to the outskirts of Saffron City. Although far from the center of it all, the surrounding area quickly went from nature walk to suburbia. The two found a small diner to eat lunch at, which surprisingly Heidi paid for. When she offered to pay Jake scoffed at her, but she pulled out a small bag filled to the brim with poke-yen. He asked her, astonished, "Where did you get all that money!"

She only giggled and said in response, "I have my ways." This worried Jacob, only until his food was delivered to the table, which he quickly devoured so they can keep going through the city on the way to Vermillion. Heidi had other plans though.

"Where are we going NOW?" Jacob was being dragged around by the little girl throughout the city.

"To this great poke-mart near downtown! It has lots of-"

"Ok, stop right there. I am not going to any more poke-marts today, I've had enough of them. Besides, if we leave now, we can get to Vermillion by nightfall."

"Just one more! Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase!"

"Fine, but after that we leave for Vermillion!"

She drags him to a poke-mart right next to the giant Silphco. building. It is enormous compared to any other building in all of Kanto. He stares silently at the huge building touching the sky, and Heidi grabs his arm and tugs him violently into the mart. It wans't anything special, its seemed to be more like a pawn shop than anything else. Jake and Heidi look around to see if anything on the shelves is worth buying. Thats when she sees it. It's a small snowglobe with an Eevee and a Marill inside making a Snorlax snowman. She fawned over for a split second before immediately running towards the counter.

"How much is this mister!"

The man behind the counter says "Oh, that.. There... That'll be... Uh...-"

Before he can answer the small voice pipes up, "How about 500 poke-yen?"

"That sounds like a good price I'll get a box for yo-"

"I'll give you 1000 for it!"

The anonymous voice came from the direction of the doorway. It was a much older, and much larger woman, holding what Jason thought was at first a Pikachu with straps, but it turned out just to be a handbag. Heidi turned, and glared menacingly at the woman.

"2000!" yelled the little girl-

"3000!"

"3500!"

It quickly became a bidding war. The nervous man behind the counter was slightly frightened at such a quarrel over a useless bauble. "Ladies, please!" He tried to work up over them. Finally Jake decided to step in.

"Ok you two. Stop. You are fighting over a snow globe-"

"A fight sounds like a good idea!" squeaks up the small voice behind him. "I challenge you to a pokemon battle for the right to buy this snow globe!"

"Hmph, I don't think your pokemon would nearly be powerful enough little girl," said the much bigger woman.

Jacob was amazed at how stupid some people could be, a 12 year old challenging a possibly 40 year old woman (or older for that matter) to a battle for a silly little item. Well what was said was said considering they both stepped out front and readied themselves.

"Go, Snubble!" exclaimed the woman.

"Go, Eevee!" yelled Heidi. And the battle was underway. The Eevee was clearly more powerful than the woman's Snubble, so Jake figured this would be a short battle. And it was. Eevee landed a sand-attack straight away in the battle, which left the Snubble unable to get a hit in later in the match. Then after several quick attacks from the intense looking Eevee, the Snubble tried to trip it as its opponent ran past. This cheap attempt failed so the big woman became concerned and tried to go on the offensive again. It attempted a headbutt but hit a pole instead of the Eevee, and nearly knocked itself out. When Eevee used dig, that's when Snubble got scared, and so did the big woman. Eevee jumped up out of the ground right behind the frightened pink dog, and charged straight at it with a tackle attack. The poor thing didn't stand a chance against the 12 year old girls favorite pokemon, and the woman, with a baffled look on her face stormed off. Heidi was of course happy at this win and happily bought the snowglobe at the fair price of 500 pokeyen. She still had a lot left, and was completely satisfied with her stop in Saffron City.


	5. Ch 5: Wierd Man & Gym Challenge

Author's Note: I hope you are all enjoying the story so far... I've only gotten one positive review so the other few dozen people I don't know how you like it, but it's still getting views so I guess that's a good sign! Here's chapter 5!

Chapter 5

"Well, we are finally here!"

Heidi and Jacob walked into the center of the small city. It isn't nearly as big or as impressive as Saffron, but it's not like there isn't anything to do. The port has many fishermen and small boats you can go out to sea on, and there's also the gym for that matter, the main point of interest for the two travelers. It is dusk now, so it's probably closed anyway, he thought, and they'd have to stay the night in a hotel of some sort, and if that is the case Jacob is really hoping for another chance of generosity from the adopted little sister.

"What's wrong bro?" piped up his one chance of saving money.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." He's lying of course. He was feeling unsettled because of what happened earlier on the way to Vermillion.

As they were walking and talking a man in an all black suit, a black shirt and tie, who was wearing a black fedorah, walked up to the both of them. Alongside him was a Persian.

"Hello kids, where are you going this day?" he asked in a deep voice.

"We are gonna beat Lt Surge!" said Heidi.

"Yeah, we are on our way from Saffron to Vermillion to challenge the gym there," Jacob explained.

"Saffron city eh, did you take a tour of Silphco?" inquired the strange looking man.

"No, we wasted time buying a ton of useless-"

"HEY! That snowglobe is pretty!"

"Yeah yeah, I know."

"Did you notice any... strange men or strange things going on in the city?" asked the man, now caressing his luxurious Persian.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Oh I was just wondering, you can never be too careful about something." He said this last statement with a hesitation, which Jake thought was suspicious.

"Well, I'll be on my way then." His Persian meowed and started off ahead of the man.

"Ok! See ya later!" gleefully exclaimed Heidi.

They took a short tour around the small city, led by the ever-so-wise girl of age 12. She actually did know a lot about Vermillion, which impressed Jacob. But it quickly became dark so Jacob told her to find a tour route that makes its way towards a hotel. She skips in a direction towards the gym and says that there's a hotel right next to it. He must've missed it earlier because they passed the gym maybe 4 times in one hour. He didn't care though. He got to rest the night before the big battle.

* * *

For some reason there was a small crowd outside the pokemon gym the next morning. Heidi explained that because this is a higher level gym, people like to watch the gym challenges, and that there are challenges every day. Jacob is taken aback by the knowledge of the little girl. This information is different than what he's seen and heard, but he shrugs it off. He figures every town does it their own way. Like maybe Cinnabar has people stand on the edge of the volcano to watch the battle, or in Fuschia you constantly have to be wary of ninjas attacking you! His mind danced around for awhile.

The gym doors open at 10 AM and people start to file in by two lines. One for spectators, this line contained a few dozen people, and one for challengers, this line only contained 3 or 4 trainers. While people paid admission to the ensuing battles (it was probably only 100 pokeyen per person or something small like that) the other ones were filing out what seemed to be entry forms. Jacob grabbed one for both Heidi and himself. It listed various rules and regulations that he already knows about. He notices on the forms that you could check a box for double battles, how convinient.

"Hey, um, sir, can two people battle at once? Against Surge I mean?"

"Well it isn't against any rules, but you are only allowed to enter 2 pokemon total in a double battle. I've never had that question asked but I'd say as long as you know all other double battle rules you can work with a partner."

"Ok, thanks. And one more question, would both of the battlers get a badge, should the team win?"

"Well of course."

"Ok, thanks!"

He looks down at Heidi and tells her to sign her name at the top next to his, and one pokemon in the last box. She chose her Oddish strangely enough, he thought for sure she was going to choose Eevee. Jacob chose Munchlax, purely because of the fact he taught it Earthquake through a TM. A solid team, but it may not come close to winning. He and Heidi are led to another area where they are seated separately from the crowd. The first challenger steps up, it was a girl about Heidi's size. Surge walks out of double doors across from the challenger. She looks frightened by the towering, muscular, yellow-haired figure, considering she only came up to his belly-button. Her brown eyes started to water, then they changed, she now looked serious and ready to go. It was a one-on-one battle, one pokemon each. Surge uses Jolteon, one of his favorites, while his opponent uses a Jigglypuff. It should NOT be a hard battle at all... for Surge that is, thought Jake. Jolteon shocks the Jigglypuff once and it immediately goes down. As it tries to get back up the Jolteon charges headlong into the pink puffball and it is done for. The crowd clapped for the girl's "effort" while she picked up her Jigglypuff and cried herself out the door, running for the pokemon center down the street.

The second challenger, now closer to Jacob's age, looked formiddable. It is another one-on-one battle. Surge calls in Jolteon and sends out a tough-looking Magneton. His opponent releases from an Ultra ball a Kadabra. This is going to be a good battle, Jacob thought. Kadabra leads with a Calm Mind move. A smart way to start. The Magneton follows up with a lock-on. Knowing what was coming next, Surge's opponent waited for the command. "Zap Cannon Magneton!"

"Protect!"

A huge ball of lightning clashed in a small explosion with a green protective barrier. That's when Heidi says with a grin on her face, "Kadabra you sly dog." Now looking back down at the field Jacob notices that the Kadabra is gone momentarily, then it reappears behind the Magneton. It used Teleport. Kadabra hits its opponent hard, from behind, and up close with a powerful psybeam attack. The Magneton wrenches itself in pain as it tries to turn around, but the Kadabra is just a touch faster, Teleporting again further away from the Magneton, then launching a dabilitating Tri-Attack. Lucky for Kadabra it burned the Magneton, which was now launching a harsh-looking thunderbolt. It hits a wall of purple light as the Reflect turns away the attempt at an easy blow.

The Magneton is picking up steam now, it charges towards the Kadabra and uses Flash, blinding most in the front rows as well as the Kadabra. Using this opportunity the Magneton launched a close-range Zap Cannon, there was no chance of it missing from this range. The contact of the Zap Cannon launched the Kadabra at least 20 feet away from the impact point. It struggled to get back up, but then its eyes grew purple. Nothing happened after that but Heidi knew what was coming. She was hooping and hollering along with the crowd, but for a different reason. The burn was taking its toll on the Magnemite now that it's slowing back down again, which lets the Kadabra land another Psybeam. Heidi starts jumping in her seat as Kadabra executes its final blow. The Magneton stops in mid-air, as a blue aura envelops it. Psychic attack. While the Magneton struggles to move free a flash of purple light strikes the stage, and a beam materializes from right below the big screen attached to the ceiling of the gym, smashing down on the helpless Magneton. The future sight attack had done its damage as the Magneton fell in a heap of metal. The trainer of the Kadabra was declared victor, as Surge cursed under his breath. Jacob was not feeling very confident now, but Heidi urged him forward. "C'mon! We're next!"

Jacob follows a man down from his seat and onto the arena floor. Although he has defeated Brock and Misty, their pokemon were nothing like this. For the first time he felt nervous before a battle, but the intensity in Heidi's eyes helped him overcome this nervousness. He looks down. Looks out at Surge. Surge says out loud, "That's gonna be the only one o' my pokemon to go down today!" The crowd enthusiastically cheers at this challenge. Jacob looks him in the eye and whips his pokeball into the center of the gym's floor.


	6. Ch 6: Lt Surge & A Huge Upset

Chapter 6

The Oddish and his Munchlax materialize at the same time in the middle of the battle area. Surge inspects the pokemon and sends his out: a Voltorb, and... "Oh God," whispered Jacob to himself. The Raichu stands tall over the other pokemon on the field, and looks extremely intimidating to the challenging pokemon. Munchlax is taken aback, but Oddish still holds its ground. Jake has no idea what training it has been through, but Heidi was doing something right when that Oddish looks even more threatening than ever. The battle begins quickly. Jacob tunes out any sound that isn't his voice and that of his partner. The Voltorb moves quickly towards the Oddish, which jumps over the rolling white and red ball. At the same time the Raichu charges Munch, and hits it directly with a Body Slam attack. Munch rolls a few feet then jumps back up at the challenge. That's when the Oddish steps in front and blasts a purple powder straight into the face of the Raichu. The dabilitating Poison Powder forces the Raichu to stumble back, and nearly trips over the Voltorb that was trying to get an angle on the two challengers. Heidi tells Jacob, "Quick! Tell Munchlax to use an attack!"

Jacob commands Munch, "Earthquake!"

Lt. Surge looked slightly distressed when the ground started shaking, and the Munchlax started to rock the stadium. The Raichu fell over completely and the Voltorb couldn't control its movements at all. The Oddish then runs over towards the Voltorb, who's now regaining its own balance, and prepares to launch another Poison Powder. A shock from the large mouse pokemon to Oddish's right forced it to trip and fall over, as Munch defended the little weed from the Voltorb's Sonic Boom attack through protect. Munchlax directed them back to their side of the field while still underneath the green barrier. As it disappeared, Heidi got a look in her eye as if she knew Surge's next move. The command came: "Thunder!"

Then piped up a small voice, "Sunny Day!"

As the beam of lightining made its way over towards the duo of unlikely contenders, it lost intensity and began to go hay-wire. It directed itself in-between the two pokemon, and hardly scorched the rock it hit. In the confusion of the Raichu that sent the attack, the Munchlax made its way over to it, getting within range for something big that it would hopefully pull, because it started waving its arms back and forth. They grew white. And out from Munchlax's mouth came a small stream of fire. The ember attack it gained from the metronome didn't do much, but the fact the Raichu was poisoned was starting to show. It was slowed down slightly, and its attacks had lost their power, while Voltorb on the other hand looked as good as ever. The Oddish sprinted again towards the Raichu, hoping to deliver a small, but hard blow. It missed outright when it tried to use Razor leaf, and the Voltorb followed up with a thundershock. It wasn't very effective, and Surge knew that, but Oddish had lost so much speed after the blow. It was paralyzed, Jacob reasoned, and now he had to work harder to cover for the now slowed Oddish. All four pokemon slowly came closer and closer to eachother in the center of the arena, and their attacks were losing their luster. Raichu was almost finished due to the poisoning, and Munchlax had taken too many blows from the two gym leader's pokemon. The Voltorb didn't lose much in terms of speed and power so far over the battle.

Jacob looked at the battlefield and noticed the sun was still shining brightly. He told Heidi to move Oddish back while Munchlax corners the two pokemon, and to prepare the finishing blow. Raichu tries to get off one more quick attack, but is easily dodged as most of its energy had been drained so far. The Munchlax body slams it up against a large boulder created by the earthquake earlier. Now the hard part was luring in the Voltorb. It was still skitting about the stage, now focused on the normal type pokemon, which was closer to it than the Oddish. It came close, used Sonic boom, and zoomed off again. It would be almost impossible to hit it. Jacob and Munchlax both know its going to come down to a suicide move.

The Voltorb charges up towards it again, and Munch manages to jump out of the way. As the Raichu struggles to move away, the Voltorb continues to skirt around the boulder and the Munchlax both. Voltorb charges in again, and hits Munch dead-on with a tackle attack. Munch staggers but is still standing. One more charge from the Voltorb. It stops as it makes contact with the formiddable challenger. Munchlax had grabbed it and is not letting go anytime soon. Jacob yells to Heidi, "Do it now!"

"Solar beam Oddish!"

A yellow orb quickly gathers over the Oddish's head in between its curled leaves. The strong sunlight was fading as if all its remaining energy was being put into this final attack. Oddish quickly releases a strong beam of light towards the three other pokemon. It hits the first two directly, pushing Munch and Voltorb straight into the Raichu, finishing it off for the battle. Munchlax was also done for, and fainted not soon after being hit. The Voltorb though, still had some juice left. It skidded towards Oddish, with not nearly as much speed, and was able to throw a sonic boom at the grass-type pokemon. The Oddish dodged it, barely, and retaliated with Absorb. It drained little from the electric ball and this battle was coming down to the wire. Voltorb glowed yellow and created another small thunderbolt. This hit Oddish but did nothing to stop it from charging up one more Solar beam. It was a slow gathering for sunlight this time as it had faded away from battle already. Surge, realizing that if this hit his pokemon, it would end the battle for him, and he would have to concede defeat yet again. He told Voltorb to retreat to the other side of the battleground, as to wait for the ensuing attack to miss and pass over. That's the one thing that Heidi would not let happen. Oddish aimed with extreme precision, and struck the Voltorb, who was behind a large rock, and sent it flying. The referee signaled the defeat of the Voltorb, and the victory for the challengers. It was a bittersweet victory considering Munchlax didn't survive until the end, but he was still happy with the win.

After the 4th and final battle, that Surge effortlessly won yet again, and after a short trip to the pokemon center literally 1 minute down the road from the gym, they were presented with their badges. Heidi was beaming as Surge handed her a small yellow pin that looked like the sun, and Jacob proudly shook the man's hand as he was handed his badge.

As they left the gym he pulled out of his backpack a small case, opened it up, and placed his new badge inside. The Boulderbadge and Cascadebadge were clearly visible in the red velvet lining of the small case, and smiled as he closed it, so to keep the Thunderbadge safe. Heidi looks up at him, and he looks down at her. They smile at eachother and she gives him a quick hug.

"Thanks bro, that was a great battle!"

"Hey, we wouldn't have won if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, I know!" She stuck her tounge out and ran ahead a bit. She turned back and asked loudly, "So where are we getting dinner tonight?"

He looked around and spotted a family diner down the road. He pointed and said, "There looks like a good spot."

She looks to where he's pointing, grows a great, big, open-mouthed smile, and runs as fast as her little legs can take her towards the front door of the diner. Jacob goes into his bag, and pulls out his wallet. He didn't have much, but treating her to dinner was the least he could do.


	7. Ch 7: Vague Scheming & Coming Home

Author's note: I just went through all the chapters I have written up so far (21) and noticed my word count varies from 1800 to 700... that's not very good, but I'm a bit too far into the story to go back to chapter 8 and add an extra 500 words so if i post a chapter with less than 900 words I'm going to make it a two chapter week. I hope you enjoy this chapter, my little brother certainly got a kick out of it! XD

Chapter 7: Vague Scheme and Coming Home

The food was delicious at the small diner Jacob found. Heidi ordered a breakfast platter, yes as a dinner meal, and Jacob ordered a burger with fries. It was more than finger-licking good! Heidi gobbled down the bacon and toast quickly, but took her time on the blueberry pancakes. The television above the bar was showing some sort of fighting pokemon arm-wrestling contest. A Machamp was clearly outmatching a Hitmonchan, although not by much. The Hitmonchan was still alive and ready to make its move. It mustered up some strength and brought it back to even with the Machamp. The television then cut to commercial, why in the middle of a fight Jacob couldn't guess.

"Prepare for trouble," the woman's voice on the television said.

"Make it double!" said a man. They alternated lines like this for the duration of the commercial.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love." The people in the diner became slightly frigtened.

"To extend our reach to the stars above!" It mustn't be a commercial...

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" At the mention of team rocket there were several gasps within the diner.

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Jacob was frightened, and for the first time since they met, Heidi looked concerned.

"Team Rocket wishes to make an announcement tonight." It was the voice of the man the two met while traveling from Saffron. "I am speaking to the public tonight to make a statement to everyone who can see this. We as an organization have taken over the SilphCo. building, and are overriding all television signals to send you this broadcast. I'm here to tell you that we are finally coming back out of the shadows and are going to proceed with our original plans. We are declaring war against anyone who tries to oppose us. Do not try to stop us because you will only meet a greusome defeat, and it may cost you your precious pokemon."

People in the diner began to panic, some even went as far as to telephone 911. I'm sure the police force would be the last people to not know about the situation, Jacob thought. People are now acting stupid while it seems Jacob and Heidi are the only ones that are level-headed.

"Do not stand in our way. We will take the pokemon we need, and we will win."

The screen cuts to black. The connection is re-established to the arm-wrestling match. The Hitmonchan had won, but that's not why everyone began talking and whispering, concerned about what they just saw. Jacob and Heidi look at eachother. "Jacob, I'm kinda scared."

"Me too, I think we may need to go somewhere safe. Where are you from?"

"I live on Cinnabar Island, but I don't have enough for a boat ticket there"

"I don't either... I live in Celadon though, but I don't think it'd be safe to travel back through Saffron."

They just look around, looking for an answer to their difficult question of what to do.

"Well, Celadon is the next gym we are supposed to go to anyway, lets try going there," Heidi slowly says.

"Yeah, lets do that."

Still frightened from earlier, the trembling waitress takes their money for the meal and returns to the front desk.

* * *

The walk back to Saffron the next day was a quiet one. There were no pokemon to be seen on the road, and they didn't see any travelers. They got to Saffron City at around midday. People were trying to go about their business casually, but everyone, especially in Saffron City, knew what was happening. There was no sign of Team Rocket within the City anymore. They must've taken the building, then left just as quickly. Nobody talked to the travelers as they made their way west to Route 7. Celadon City wasn't very far away from Saffron, so they quickly made it in about 2 hours, much less than the 4 hours it took to walk from Vermillion back to Saffron. The interactions had with Heidi were returning to normal, but they still both had frightened tones in their voices. Every conversation they had died quickly, but hope returned when they saw a flock of wild Pidgey flew out of the grass. For some reason the Pidgeys' fright was their happiness. Jacob thought it was good to see something natural again.

They walked up to a large home, and Jacob had had to use a key to enter. He opened the door to find his mother on the couch watching the news. It was just some witness saying he saw strange men enter the building at some time. Nothing really that would help the case. Jacob's mother runs over and hugs him tightly, "I was so worried about you!" The woman, a head shorter than he was, with black hair to the middle of her back, had just noticed the little girl beside him.

"Oh! You brought home a girl too? I was hoping it would be someone... closer to your age."

Jacob shrugged and tried to ignore her.

"So who's this Jacob?"

"I'm Heidi!" She replies with a smile.

"Oh hello Heidi! How did you two meet?"

"I nearly killed her Eevee accidentally so I had to help her win the Thunderbadge."

"My god Jacob! Leave it to you to do something so horrible!"

"Hey! We won it! See?"He pulled out the case and opened it in the direction of his mother. She smiled and said, "Well congratulations!"

"I got one too Mommy!"

"Oh, now she's _your_ mom too?"

"Wow! I never thought someone as small as you would have as many badges as my Jacob. You need to pick it up boy!"

His mother was always a sarcastic one...

"Yeah, yeah. Well my next battle is against Erika so I think I'll be fine."

"Oh! Speaking of which," she runs upstairs calling out, "Oh lovely daughter of miiiine~!" and leaves the two waiting in the foyer. Jacob leads to take off his shoes, and Heidi follows suit. They sit down on the couch, the news is still on. Jacob's mother comes back downstairs and says, "Oh, I forgot, your sister isn't home today, she's at the pokemon gym again."

"Well mom I don't know why you wouldn't think she isn't at the gym," Jacob replied.

"Your sister works at the pokemon gym?!" Heidi asks excitedly.

"Yeah, she loves grass type pokemon and takes care of a whole lot of them there."

"Wow! When do we meet her?"

"Well," answered his mother, "considering today is Thursday, she's going to spend the night at the gym with her pokemon there."

"Woooow~! I wanna sleep at a gym!"

"I think my sister can arrange that."

"Does she know that your sister is-"

"Shh, mom. It'll be funny when she finds out."

"Find out what? Tell me big bro!"

"You'll see Heidi. You'll see." Jake started to snicker with a devious smile on his face.


	8. Ch 8: Inside Joke & Enchanting Maiden

Chapter 8: Inside Joke and Enchanting Maiden

Author's note: As I realized when I was writing chapter 25, some pokemon are using moves that they can only learn through tutoring or TM without having them being tutored during the storyline… Let's just assume they learn them naturally considering: what Umbreon wouldn't be able to use payback? And how is a Togepi supposed to fight when its only moves are Charm, Growl, and Metronome? That's probably the only mistake I made while writing the story so far and considering I'm already at chapter 25 (despite only releasing chapter 8 now) I'm not going to go back and correct myself, so you'll just have to get over it. I think it makes the story better.

PS. Ignore what I said in the last chapter about short chapters because I went back to most of them and added more content, but there are going to still be some weeks where I release two chapters at once... Such as this one! Enjoy the next two chapters of the Journey!

After spending the rest of the day in the huge house, Heidi awoke comfortably in a large bed. It was the guest room of the house, which was in between Jacob and his sister's rooms, which Heidi was forbidden from entering, by Jake of course. The secrets Jacob wanted to... "Suprise" her with were making her excited. She looks around and finds a clock. 7:15 AM. Too early for Jacob to be up. She silently lifts herself off of the bed and makes her way over to the door. It doesn't creak at she smoothly pushes it open. She lifts each leg gingerly as she moves towards the mysterious room next to hers. The floor isn't creaking at all! She takes a few more steps, nothing. A few feet away. A few steps now! One more step! She turns the handle-

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here we go," Jacob says as he hoists Heidi up over his shoulder. She pummels his back with her tiny fists for a few seconds, grunting and shouting, but gives up. She pouts as she's taken away from the door and carried downstairs to where breakfast is already on the table. She soon forgets about Jacob's triumph as she devours the delicious home-cooked waffles and ham in front of her.

"It should be a big day for my two trainers today!" Jacob's mother said gleefully.

"Well yeah! We are gonna go beat Erika today!" said Heidi.

"I don't know, her pokemon are extremely powerful!"

"Don't worry ma! We'll take her down!" Heidi was now energized and ready to go. Jacob smirks as she hops out of the chair, getting ready to go out for the day. She puts on her shoes and her green jacket that was washed last night, but leaves her hair down today.

"No twintails today Heidi?" inquires Jake.

"Nah, that's too childish. I gotta look pretty for Erika!"

Jacob's mother started to laugh loudly. Jacob, now realizing the irony in her statement, begins to laugh especially hard. He starts to tear when Heidi finally asks, "What's so funny? Is something in my hair?"

"No, dear, it's nothing," Jacob's mother manages to sputter out while still laughing herself to tears. "I'm sure Erika will think you're gorgeous!"

Not realizing the sarcasm, Heidi smiles and starts out the door before Jacob. He kisses his mom goodbye and closes the door after Heidi.

They reach downtown Celadon and Heidi is amazed at the sights. The police force is out and about asking random people if they've seen anything suspicious, trying to see if anyone knows anything about Rocket's plans. The event yesterday shook the entire region apparently, and now everyone is taking a cautious step. Everyone, it seems, except for Jacob. He was indifferent about the situation, despite initially being a bit nervous, and could probably care less about it now. Nothing bad will happen to him or the people he likes, so why bother worrying?

Heidi doesn't seem to care either, but nobody can read the mind of a 12 year old. She's probably more cautious about sending out her pokemon in public, afraid that a Rocket member will pop out of the ground and take it from her, but other than that possibility she seemed fine. Jacob was concerned for his more rare pokemon, and decided to himself not to let Beldum and Togepi out of their balls anytime soon. Just as a precaution. He would have had to be careful with his pokemon eventually, he reasoned. He cared a lot more than he thought he did.

The duo neared the Celadon department store and Heidi's eyes started glowing. She pointed at the tall building and said with an extremely intense voice, "LETS GO THERE FIRST!"

Picking her up by the collar, Jacob silently refused the notion, and kept on heading towards the pokemon gym. He was thinking of a strategy he could use against grass. Seeing as his Munchlax was pretty powerful, it will probably be the best choice, as for Heidi, who cares, he doesn't have to help her with this battle. She tried "the face" again but it wasn't very effective. Jacob turned away from the attempt at confusing him and retaliated with a piggy back ride offer. It was super effective, considering as he was asking she cut him off and jumped on his back. He was now carrying maybe 80 pounds of happiness and joy on his back, and continued walking to the other side of town to where the gym was. Heidi was happy either way, knowing that with the prize money from the 4th gym, she can have a field day at the mall later.

They approached what looked to be a green house. "We're here!" said Jake as he plopped Heidi onto the ground.

"OWIE!" She landed on her butt.

"Sorry about that."

There were a few grass types about the building, each of them taking a look at Jacob and rushing to greet him. The excited pokemon then saw Heidi, and only one lone Oddish continued running from out of the bushes. It bumps into his legs and falls on its back. "Oh, hey there little dude!" He picked it up and it gleefully giggles in his hands. "Is that Oddish yours bro?"

"No, I just know it because my sister works here at the gym, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." She looks down and sees a Bellsprout examining her shorts. "Hey! What are you lookin' at?" Heidi challenges the Bellsprout. It uses Vine Whip to give her a crack on the butt, then runs away. "OW! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?" She goes to run after it, but Jake holds her back.

"I don't think lady Erika would like that!" Knowing he's right she runs up and into the doors of the green-house like building. After Jacob follows her inside, a few more grass types try to swarm them. A couple of Hoppip, a few Skiploom, several Weepinbell and Bellossom, and one Cottonee. Then a Tangela and a Cherrim also appear to greet the new visitors. "Hello all you happy pokes!"

At this phrase they all excitedly greet the familiar Jacob, and his companion. That's when a girl enters the room. She flowed into the room gently and gracefully, wearing a kimono and a headband to hold back her short, yet lavish purple hair. He didn't use her eyes at all when she moved, she just knew where all of her pokemon were. She ducked the hanging Skiploom, and sidestepped the squatting Oddish.

"My, my, I wonder who could have all my pokemon in such an excited state like this!" Even her words were graceful as Heidi took in every word.

"I think they all like me because I'm so cute!"

Erika was startled at the voice she didn't recognize. Although her eyes were open, she didn't notice the little girl. She looked in the vicinity of where the voice came from.

"Who do we have here?" She giggled and lowered herself. She wasn't looking directly at Heidi.

"What's wrong? Can't you see me?"

"Why, no I can't, I'm sorry."

"Yeah," pipes up Jacob, "Considering you knew a lot about Lt. Surge's gym I thought you'd know a little bit of background on the leader of Celadon's gym. You should have at least read somewhere that she was blind."

Heidi gasps and takes a step back. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"Oh that's okay. Some people don't even notice." She explains how she moves using her sense of smell. She loved grass pokemon because, she said, each one has its own unique aroma, and each one of them was beautiful. She learned to utilize her sense of smell to help her move around her grass-type pokemon. That's how, even now, she can move gracefully down the walkway.

"OH!" Heidi acts erratically, tugging at Jake's arm. "When are we gonna see your sister big bro?"

"Big bro?" Erika looks slightly puzzled, then she giggles. "So I've gained a younger sister, have I?"


	9. Ch 9: Elegant Battle & Interruptions

Chapter 9: Elegant Battle and Huge Interruptions

Heidi's jaw hit the floor after Erika revealed that she was Jacob's sister. Her, a gym leader, extremely attractive, and too nice to believe, is the brother of this annoying slob? She failed to speak and left her mouth agape while trying to find anything to say.

"Close your mouth, you look like a Magikarp!" Jacob couldn't keep a straight face anymore and began to laugh out loud.

"What did you do now Jacob?"

"Oh I just played a little joke on our 'little sister'. I didn't tell her that we were related, just to see her reaction, and it is priceless."

The gym leader giggles again, "You are so cruel Jake."

Heidi, still standing wide-eyed with a gaping mouth, takes a step back and falls over the Jumpluff that was following them. It floats off angrily back towards its brethren. Heidi has no idea whether to be mad, happy, or laughing along with them. As she continues to gather her emotions, the siblings walk forward, leading her towards another room of the greenhouse. It was a large room, it seemed like a small forest, much like the room they just left, except here, in the middle of the room, was the outline of the familiar battle zone. It had a few bushes and trees within the borders of the area, thus making much more of a challenge for the opponent, becuase the field was heavily in favor for Erika and her grass pokemon.

"Didn't someone want to battle me?" elegantly asks Erika.

"Y-y-yes! I did!" Heidi finally managed to speak up again. Her voice, much higher and shaky, told Jacob that she still didn't know how to react. He grinned as Erika took her position on the battlefield.

"Come out Ivysaur, we have company." A lazy looking Ivysaur begins to lumber out from behind a few bushes behind her. She knew it was there from smelling its scent, like how she explained earlier. Heidi fumbled around in her bag for a pokeball to throw out. She picked a white ball, her Hootie, and she threw it into the tree near the middle of the field. The Hoothoot recognizes it element and perches itself in the tree. Heidi goes back to her old self right there.

"Hey! Hootie! We have a battle to do!" The Hoothoot looks at her, looks at the Ivysaur, and realizes that the grass and poison type pokemon is its opponent. It takes the same eyes as Heidi and positions itself for a command, serious, and full of energy. As commands fly, one from an energetic little girl, and the other from a calm, soft voice, gently making suggestions on how the Ivysaur should move, Heidi tries to use her type advantage to help her win the Rainbowbadge. Hootie charged in for a peck, and was turned away by the push of a Vine Whip. It charged again, and had the same result. A third time, this time the Ivysaur hit it dead on with a poison powder. The purple stuff hit it hard, and Hootie careened off into a bush. It came out coughing, but wasn't going to give up easily. Ivysaur used a Razor Leaf, but the Hoothoot managed to fly up into the air. It came down quickly onto the Ivysaur with a devastating blow to the top of the head. Ivysaur is nearly knocked unconscious with this one blow, but it still had enough energy to keep going. Coming around for the next attack, the Hoothoot charged in again, looking for a peck. After another quick dodge the glass above shatters.

The broken glass litters the floor, and Jacob runs over to Heidi, shielding her from the attack. Ropes were coming through the holes in the ceiling, and two men and two women wearing black uniforms were coming down, four in total. They dropped a few pokeballs and several vicious looking Raticate exited them. Erika, now realizing what's happening, calls over her Vileplume and Victreebell and command them to attack the intruders. Now that they've turned towards Jacob, he sees the giant "R"s on their chests. Team Rocket was attacking here? Why? And as if they heard his question, the largest one that came down on the ropes yelled, "Try to snag as many grass types as you can!"

"I won't let you take my precious pokemon!" Erika was showing a side she's never shown Jacob before. Although she was blind she was staring intensely at the Rockets that had entered the building. Knowing the oncoming wrath of a gym leader was upon them, they each sent out their strongest pokemon. One released a Serviper, another a Tyranitar, the third one an Umbreon, and the last a Tropius. Heidi, with her fright now leaving her, devised a strategy.

"Erika, take on the Umbreon and Tyranitar! I'll get the Tropius!" That left Jacob the Serviper. He whipped out a pokeball and an iron hammer came hurtling out of it. He commanded the Beldum to attack the Serviper as powerfully as it could. It was easily dodged, but wouldn't give up in the slightest bit. It continued to charge, even ramming one of the Raticate, and knocking it out right there. The Serviper finally decided to strike back and put it in a bind. Even though it couldn't move, the Beldum still tried to make progress against the powerful poison type.

"That's a rare pokemon ya gots there kid! Mind if we take it?" The smaller woman who released the Serviper prepared a Black pokeball, it looked blacker than night, and was in no way a Luxury Ball. Heidi apparently made quick work of the Tropius with Hootie, because as the ball was thrown towards Beldum, a large wing batted it away. It had evolved mid-fight! The now Noctowl attacked the Serviper, and had helped Beldum escape its grip. Beldum charged one time right into the jaw of the snake pokemon and it fell in a horrible heap of undulating muscles. The two women (the other sent out the Tropius) now frustrated, tugged on the rope and were pulled back up. The two men with their Tyranitar and Umbreon were taking advantage of the now two on one, as the Victreebell had gone down before either one of its opponents fainted.

"Beldum! Attack the Umbreon!" It charged straight into the back leg of the Umbreon, dabilitating it greatly. It had a severe limp as the Noctowl hit it quickly with an aerial ace attack, and now it was three on one. The Noctowl perched itself behind Heidi in a bush, and collapsed. The poison from earlier had finally knocked it out. Heidi puts it back in its ball and thanks Hootie for a job well-done.

The big man called back his Tyranitar and quickly made his escape. As they left through the cieling the police force showed up. A Fearow flew over the roof of the Gym and snapped the cord of the smaller man using drill peck through it, and the man fell back down into the trees. Police Cheif Jenny of Celadon quickly called back the Fearow as the other three escaped in the helicopter, bound to who-knows where. Erika was taking account of her pokemon, most of the unevolved forms were cowering behind her Torterra. She was only missing a Hoppip but she was hoping it floated away from here in the confusion, which it did. It came back only after Jacob noticed something that wasn't related to the break-in. His Beldum is gone.

"Beldum? Beldum!" He turned and ran back towards the gym, hoping to see his Beldum still there with Heidi. He didn't see Beldum. In fact, Beldum would never be found because, he saw not one, but two floating arms, and two big red eyes.

"Lookie! Lookie! I watched your Beldum evolve! It was glowing white and-," Jacob tuned out Heidi and smiled at his pokemon. Metang greeted him with happy eyes and a chest-crushing hug. He was just glad it wasn't taken away from him.


	10. Ch 10: Anxiety

Chapter 10: Anxiety

Author's Note: Because I have 30+ chapters already written out, I'm going to irregularly update whenever I feel like (yes I know i said weekly but that'll be when school starts for me from now on) I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write when I'm off to college so I wanna get to maybe chapter 25 or so before I leave, that way, when I already have 40 or 50 chapters written and I don't have time to write, hey, they are already written. on the other hand if i find i have a lot of spare time, i'll just continue to irregularly update at my own convinience. CHAPTER 10, ENJOY.

The police were running rampant through the gym looking for any evidence that would point to where the Rockets were headed.

"I TOLD YA I'M NOT TELLIN YOU A THING!" Shouted the one Rocket Grunt that was captured in the earlier confusion. His was the rope that was severed before the other three left.

One ever-so-wise cop pointed out, "Team Rocket was here, and they may come back."

Well no shit Sherlock! Where did you get your badge? The back of a Detective Conan Manga? Jesus! Jacob's mom was in hysterics, crying into both of her children saying that she was just glad they were safe. Heidi was surprisingly alright, she didn't seem to be affected at all. She was bouncing everywhere and loved the attention from the cops when they were interviewing her about the break in and attempted thievery. I don't know how she isn't scared at all, Jacob thought.

The media and reporters were there as well, being pushed away by the police. The investigation wasn't very extensive because they were maintained in the one room by Erika, Heidi, and Jacob.

After several hours of literally nothing going on but cops and bystanders coming and going, Police Cheif Jenny concluded with a statement to Erika, "We'll do the best we can, the only thing we can do at this point is set up security guards around the premises."

"That's quite alright, my pokemon and I can handle ourselves."

"No, we insist we have constant patrol around your gym Erika. We don't want to take any more chances."

"Ok, I'll give in. But can you call the police stations of the other towns and tell them to be on the lookout in their gyms as well?"

"We are already on it."

"Thank you Jenny."

With that the police were on their way, and Erika turns to Jacob and Heidi. "Thank you very much for all your help today. Without you two I would have been in great danger." She picks from the belt of her Kimono two small pins. "For you Heidi." She hands her one of them.

Heidi's eyes start to get wider and glow as she looks down onto the Rainbowbadge. She jumps up and hugs her "big sister" for the reward.

"You deserve it for helping me defeat those evil Rockets, I am forever in your debt."

Heidi smiles and gives her a thumbs up, not that she can see it. "No problem sis!"

Erika turns to her brother. "And for you you big dummy." He smiles as she holds out the Rainbowbadge for him. "I know you'll always have my back."

"Of course Erika, you are my favorite sister after all!"

"Hahaha, I know, you say that all the time." They all smiled and laughed with each other, until Heidi stopped her giggling and looked down at her badge. The smile had gone from her face.

That night it was hard to sleep for Jacob. Although everything turned out for the best, he was extremely worried of what could have happened should they have failed. What if Bel-Metang was taken away? What if they stole all of Erika's pokemon? So many what ifs, and the biggest one was "What if it'll happen again". This thought frightened him as they had to keep traveling to other gyms, and what if this did happen while they were challenging Koga, or Blaine. Or what if they were all attacked simultaneously today! Jake was full of paranoia and his mind couldn't stop racing. Even ridiculous ideas could be reality to him at this point.

In the hallway he heard a creak and jumped out of his bed towards the door. He slowly opened it... oh... It was only Heidi, probably going to the bathroom. Whatever. there probably isn't going to be another chance of a Rocke-

WHAT WAS THAT?- He had heard clomping down the hallway... oh... It was just her Eevee following her. He was so on-edge He's just happy everyone is safe and sound for now.

*CRASH*

THE HELL WAS THAT? He goes running in the direction of where the crash was... oh... Heidi dropped her glass of water. "Don't worry bro I'll clean.." She was falling asleep as it is.

"You go back to bed, I'll clean this up." She hobbles off to the bedroom with her tired Eevee sauntering behind her. He turned on the light, picked up a towel, and picked up most of the glass with it. "Ugh, I need to stop myself." Nothing like this had ever happened to him before so it's no wonder he's so jumpy. He jumped back again. There was more clomping in the hallways... oh... Alexandra had let herself out of her ball and came to find Jacob. The adorable Togepi gives him an assuring smile as it trills gleefully while waddling around him. It turns back towards the bedroom and leads the way back towards his comfortable bed. Jacob figures to take its lead. He picks her up, returns to his room, and tries his best to get some rest. Somehow, the little pokemon he had only caught less than a week ago had already made such a connection to him that he was already calmed down. He kissed Alexandra on the head and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

He awoke at around 8:00 AM. Groggy and feeling like crap, he walked down into the living room to find breakfast. He saw his mother watching the news, it was about the break in the day before. The interviews, the cops pushing people away, Jacob remembers the exact scene of yesterday. He shudders at the memory, then walks to the table to eat breakfast. He lets Heidi know that because of what happened, they are going to stay in Celadon for a while longer. She solemnly nods in understanding, and looks down at her Eevee. It jumps up into her lap looking for some comfort that can only be filled by the petting of its master.

She puts her hand on its head and stops mid-stroke. Her hand is jittering so she drops her fork on her plate with a clang. Jacob turns to her and asks, "Whats wrong little sis?"

She doesn't move.

"Heidi?" He puts his hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

She looks up at him with tears streaming down her face.


	11. Ch 11: Sad Story & Another Surprise

Chapter 11: Sad Story and Lovely Surprise

Author's note: Consider the second half of this story filler, except for maybe the last few lines. I don't remember what I was thinking when I wrote it but I gotta say, even as the guy who wrote it, it's kinda a little stupid. Well whatever, enjoy the chapter.

Heidi cried for two hours straight. Jacob carried her to the couch where he could hold her while she cried into his shoulder, her Eevee still on her legs, licking her hand in comfort. Even Jacob was suprised that the girl who had been so strong against opponents much larger than her, would be affected so deeply by this event. That's when someone would have to keep in mind that she was still only a 12 year old girl.

When she was finished and just at a small sob, Jacob decided to ask, "What's wrong Heidi? If you have anything you're afraid of you can tell me."

Still crying, she reluctantly starts, "Well-" sniff, "when I was really little-" more sniffles, "I lived in Lavender Town," sob, "and I had a friend. It was a Marowak." -sniffle again. "And when we were playing in the pokemon tower, Team Rocket took its baby Cubone, and-" she starts crying, "The Marowak tried to save it but-" she begins crying really hard now, "they killed the Marowak and took its baby!" She starts to sob uncontrollably again. Jacob had heard the story of the Marowak dying to protect its baby, but he never knew anyone else outside of Team Rocket was involved.

"I'm so sorry." It was all Jacob could say.

"And-" sniffle, "when Team Rocket broke into the gym," sniff, "I was really scared they would take Hootie too." She sobs quietly again. "But I didn't cry then because my mommy always told me-" sniff, "that I have to be strong for the people and Pokemon I love. So I had to be strong for Hootie, and for you, big bro."

Jacob started to tear. "You are a really strong girl Heidi. But sometimes it's okay to cry. I'm here to protect you, that's what big bros are for!" He smiles down at the crying girl. She looks up and smiles back at him, although still crying.

"Thanks bro."

They held each other for a few more hours after that, the Eevee still cuddling with her master.

While Heidi was confiding in Jacob, Alexandra the Togepi was wandering about the house. She decided to go downstairs, to where all the noise was coming from. It jumped softly from step to step down the flight of stairs towards the living room. Seeing the sad sight before it, it became sad as well. Togepi is normally known for appearing to people who needed happiness most, and it seeing its owner in such a depressed state put the Togepi in a tizzy. It jumped back upstairs and told all of the other pokemon to come out of their balls. Informing them of the situation, as far as Alexandra knew it, they tried to formulate a surprise to make both their owners happy again. They couldn't do anything extravagant, and figured they didn't have much time to plan something so great. They decided the best plan would be to go downstairs and they would all give them both hugs simultaneously. Munchlax was surprisingly the most enthusiastic about this proposal. Bulbasaur and Squirtle thought that waiting till they were all outside to do it was the best plan, so they can all fit in the giant group hug.

They plotted and debated over the simple plan for hours, all having their own say in how they should go about having a group hug. Something so simple quickly became complicated, and Metang, as the smartest pokemon there, found it hysterical. It was hilarious if someone were to watch this from the outside, considering all you could hear are the pokemon's various noises. Occasionally someone would pipe up to be quiet so Jacob and Heidi don't hear them. They'd get concerned if all the pokemon were out at once for seemingly no reason. Togepi was glad they all cared so much for their trainers... No, their friends, that they would go to such lengths to make them happy... Even if they were only discussing a hug.

A few more hours passed before they finally- yes FINALLY found a way to do this. They decided when Jacob and Heidi are outside they would walk up, one by one, starting with Alexandra. She would jump up into Jacob's arms, then Oddish would do the same to Heidi. Then Munchlax and Eevee would hug their legs. They would inform Eevee of the plan later, most likely while Alexandra starts the mission. Then Bulbasaur and Squirtle would walk up and hug the legs of their respective trainers, followed by the largest, Metang and Noctowl to hug them too. In theory it should work, they thought.

Lucky for their plan, Jacob and Heidi walked into the backyard in the late afternoon, probably now discussing other events in their life they thought were emotional or funny. The story of when Heidi left her home on Cinnabar wasn't heart wrenching, but instead was comical and quite enjoyable. Togepi walked out into the yard, and told Eevee to come inside for the plan. Not being able to ignore the one pokemon it considered more adorable than itself, Eevee followed it inside. When it saw the wall of pokemon waiting to greet Eevee, she was very surprised, but they quickly explained the plan to her. It agreed wholeheartedly, then explained how they were still somewhat sad.

Alexandra walked back out the door, followed by Oddish, and they both jumped into their respective owners' arms.

"Hey cutie, what are you doing out here?" Alexandra trilled and pointed to the door. Jacob, assuming it wanted him inside, motioned to Heidi to come with him they stood up together. That's when Munchlax and Eevee ran through the door together and wrapped themselves around their legs.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Jacob.

Bulbasaur and Squirtle ran outside then, and did the same thing Munch and Eevee did.

"Hey, what's goin on guys!?" Heidi asked.

Noctowl flew out the door followed by Metang, and they came over and comforted the two as well. Heidi smiled and started to tear up, realizing what they were doing, and said, "You guys are the best!"

Jacob started to tear. "I love you all so much! I have no idea what I would do without any of you!"

They both continued to cry, still feeling the effects of yesterday's trauma. They cried in the comfort of their friends' arms. Jacob didn't notice that Munch had started glowing white.


	12. Ch 12: Leaving Celadon

Chapter 12: Leaving Celadon and a Friend in Trouble

Author's note: Another short chapter, but it's an irregular update yet again with another one probably coming friday or saturday so keep your pants on. I think from here on out every chapter is at least 1200+ words, but i can't remember that far. The story starts really picking up chapter 30, and i'm having so much fun writing it, i hope you all stick around until then!

About a week of training and resting went by at Jacob's household with Heidi. They continued to make sure Erika and her pokemon were alright as well as practiced battle techniques with them. Heidi's Oddish evolved into a Gloom, and Jacob's Bulbasaur had evolved as well. Seeing as Erika only knew how to train the grass types, it was only natural that their grass types were the fastest to grow. Alexandra the Togepi, however, gained almost no battle experience as she only waddled around exploring the gym and giggling with the other pokemon. Heidi's Squirtle, also out of its element, could not train well either.

After the seventh day they decided to leave early the next morning, for they had to continue their quest. They had to get moving if they intended on getting down to Fuchsia before night falls. They decided to take the quick route and go down cycling road. Although they didn't have bikes, there was a walkway on either side of cycling road that they could easily walk down instead. Jacobs mother gave them a kiss goodbye and wished them safety. She was still especially worried about Team Rocket and didn't want to see her babies get hurt. It has been a week since the break-in, but they all still felt the effects of the trauma they endured.

They walked by the gym before they left too. They wished Erika goodbye and good luck in future gym challenges. Erika told them to be careful as well, she didn't want her siblings to come across any danger. Jason reassured her with a firm hug that they would be fine, and they made their way to Cycling Road.

They walked up to the gate, and the man standing there asked, "Hey, do you two have bikes?"

"No sir."

"Then you must walk along this path here." He opens a gate as he lazily slurs his over-used line, and allows Heidi and Jacob to pass through.

"Safe travels," says the guard obviously tired of his duties.

"Thanks sir," Heidi says with a smile on her face. He just looks her over and sits back down at his small chair.

They begin down the wide open road lined with two fenced, equally as large sidewalks. They are on the right side. of the giant road. To their right is the open ocean, separated from them only by a small metal fence at about Jake's waist-level. Heidi skips along down the road, now wearing a light-blue hooded sweatshirt with red shorts. Her hair is in twintails again, which bounce up and down as daintily as the rest of Heidi does. Her almost-oversized backpack compliments her. She throws up a pokeball and out comes her Eevee yet again, also now trotting alongside the skipping youngster. Jacob follows suit and before he even grabs a pokeball, Alexandra pops out and hops into Jake's chest. Before she falls he catches her, and places her on his shoulder, warning her to hold on. She stands tall, trills happily, and holds onto his ear. Its a small grip so it only slightly irritates him.

They walk for another, maybe 30 minutes, before they reach a large sign which read: "1/10 of the way to Fuschia City. Look to the right and you may see a Lapras or two!" They two travelers simultaneously look to their right, and see nothing. A Magikarp flops clumsily into the air.

"This sign lied to me!" Heidi kicked the sign at its base and the Eevee followed suit with a smile on its face. They laughed at eachother and continued down the trail, the sun high in the sky. They would see the occasional group of motorcyclers come and go in both directions, and sometimes a couple on conventional bikes.

* * *

They had just passed the sign "You are almost there! only 1/5 of the way to go! See if you can see a Pelliper fly overhead!" when they decided to stop for lunch. They sat against the small fence between the road for walkers and the road for bikers and started to eat the box lunch their mother, well, Jake's mother, made for them. It was quickly devoured by the two of them, finished with a long sigh and Heidi exclaiming, "That was delicious!" They turned to watch the bikers go by and they saw one fall over the front wheel of his bike. It looked like he fell hard on his face. The boy who fell was quickly surrounded by a few motorcyclists, all of them with leather jackets looking tough. "It's like one of those 70's gangs," Jacob said as he chuckled at the sight. Heidi tugged at his shirt while she was jumping the fence, "C'mon! We gotta help him!"

"Alright, lets go," Jacob says as he returns the Togepi to its ball. The bikers had released their pokemon, a Swalot, a Magneton, and a Weezing. They stopped where their pokemon landed and yelled at the kid, kicking him while he was down.

"HEY! YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" piped up a little girl's voice. They all turn to Heidi and Jake and start to laugh loudly.

"We was just about to teach this guy a lesson! Why don't you join him?" The biggest one had said that. He was the one that put down the Swalot.

"Over my dead body!" yelled Jacob as he threw his pokeball out, and Munch the Snorlax had revealed itself. The boy, not knowing what was going on, had thrown out a pokeball as well. A Mightyena came howling out of his pokeball.

"A Mightyena? No, it couldn't possibly be..." Jacob thought as they continued running to the far side of the road where the scuffle was. The boy got up and yelled to Jacob, "Hey, fancy meeting you here!"

"That's my line Lenny!" Jacob yelled as he started to command his Snorlax.


	13. Ch 13: Who is This & What's His Power?

Chapter 13: Who is This and What's His Power?

Author's note: I think you'll like this chapter

He stepped off of the boat in Vermilion City alongside a blue creature about 2 feet shorter than him. The people around him were startled at the sight of the Gabite as it was an extremely unusual and rare pokemon in the Kanto region. All the smaller pokemon alongside the other passengers of the small cruise ship feared the Dragon and Ground type pokemon; it had already demonstrated in a scrap in front of the boat as everyone was boarding that it was not one to mess with. The trainer was exceptionally skilled as well, collecting six of the eight badges of the Hoenn region. He cut his league challenge short because he heard the news of a Team Rocket Revival and just had to take on some more powerful opponents. His other concern though was more about the discoloration of his Gabite's stomach. He had learned that this was from a virus that doctors and nurses knew little about: Pokerus. He came to Kanto to find someone that could also cure his favorite Dragon.

His Blaziken, though, was the pride and joy of his current pokemon team, as he trained it from a small Torchic when he was just as small himself. His first pokemon would always be his favorite, and most loved, but he loved all of his powerful pokemon equally. The kid is an average-sized boy with short brown hair, camo-colored sweatpants, a hooded sweatshirt that reads "Mosdeep Carvanhas" across the front with a baseball bat underneath the large font letters and a vicious looking Carvanha as the team's logo. It was his most comfortable hoodie and he wore it with pride, despite the fact that it was spring, slowly turning to summer, he didn't feel the need to shed his winter clothing just yet. Naturally he was also one to brag about how much his home city of Mosdeep was better than the small and overpopulated cities of the Kanto region.

"C'mon Gabite, let's leave this slum and go Rocket hunting." He walked confidently toward Saffron City hoping to see some Rocket goons still about, even though the operation in which Giovanni essentially took over Silphco, then left was about a week ago. Lucky enough for him, a woman started to follow him out of the city, obviously after the rare Gabite. After they were halfway down route 6 she threw out two pokeballs towards the boy, and whipped off her outer shell of clothing. A very large Golbat and a Kadabra came out of the two pokeballs in front of the boy and his Gabite.

"You better hand over that Gabite boy, unless of course you wanna get hurt!"

"Ah, perfect, just the victim I was looking for." He snapped his finger and at the sound a Porygon 2 materialized from his front pocket. "If you want to pick a fight with Roy Stone, then you should bring more powerful friends."

"Wha-"

"Signal Beam"

A bright beam of light came shooting out of the front of the Porygon 2, aimed directly at the Kadabra, which didn't stand a chance against the Bug-type attack, and immediately fell.

"Huh! Golbat, wing attack!"

"Dragon Rush."

The Golbat dove straight at the Gabite, which jumped into the air at it, surprising the Flying and Poison-type, and quickly crushing it as they collided in mid-air. The Gabite, completely unharmed, fell back to earth and landed on its feet gently as the Golbat collapsed in a heap on itself.

"Why y-you!"

"Your other pokemon don't stand a chance, run away now."

"Shut up!" The Rocket-girl threw out two more balls while returning her fainted pokemon to theirs, a Rhydon and a Scizor revealing themselves.

"Like I said, you won't stand a chance. Porygon 2, come back." At this command and the snap of his finger again, a Mantine came shooting out of its ball. It bounced on its stomach and rested in between Roy and the two pokemon.

"Hydro Pump."

The Mantine opened its mouth and let loose a huge stream of water shooting faster than the Rocket girl could blink. The giant beam of water was large enough to engulf both the Rhydon and the Scizor that tried to fly away. The Rhydon was swept off its feet and fell over, trying to survive, while the Scizor tumbled and slammed into the Rocket. The torrents of water continued as the move wasn't done yet. The Rhydon picked up off the ground and started jetting towards the trees off the road while the Scizor and the Rocket woman were blasted back towards Vermillion, almost back to the city limits. After the beam of water finally subsided, the Rhydon was nowhere to be found and the girl was almost a mile away underneath her Scizor. Roy turned back towards Saffron and complained aloud.

"Geez, that was way too easy. Come on Mantine, back to your ball, Gabite, do you need a rest too?" The blue Dragon shook its head as the giant blue manta ray went back into its ball, which was still in his pocket. "Well fine then, but I'll still have you looked at when we get to Celadon." The Gabite nods in response to his master as they continue down route 6.

* * *

The next day on his way to Celadon from Saffron, Roy walks leisurely down route 7 alongside a figure just about as tall as he is. It's somewhat foggy so it's difficult to see the two walking in the middle of the road. They were silent while leaving Saffron earlier this morning, and are still walking silently beside each other. Roy breaks the silence between the two of them_: "Battling that chick yesterday was refreshing."_

_"That was unnecessary you know."_

_"What else could I do? She was asking for it."_

_"But to go all out like that knowing you'd destroy her?"_

_"Listen dude, you know as well as I do that Team Rocket needs to be stopped, and this is just one statement saying that they won't get away with whatever they are doing easily."_

_"I know Roy but there wasn't any need to let Mantine do all the work. I would have liked to-"_

_"Hahahahaha, if I let you battle they would have been worse off!"_

_"Heh, well you got me there."_

_"Plus I wanted to get to Saffron quickly, knowing that Celadon is not too far off from here."_

_"Well... yeah... I guess so..."_

_"We need to figure out how to cure Gabite, and the best person to find out the cure of a sick pokemon is Erika."_

_"I thought there were people that were good with herbs and medicine everywhere across the world. Why her?"_

_"But with her keen sense of smell it'd make her the obvious choice to go to get help from in those departments."_

_"I doubt though she could figure out how to cure... Pokerus, was it called? Plus he says he's been feeling better than ever."_

_"I'm still concerned with that slight discoloration of his stomach."_

_"Maybe it's nothing."_

_"It's obviously the Pokerus"_

_"Maybe it's just stains from the juice of a berry he ate."_

_"Nurse Joy specifically said that that discoloration was from the Pokerus virus. Jeez, for a Blaziken I thought you'd be smarter than that."_

_"Well I'm certainly no Alakazam. Hell, it's a miracle we can even communicate like this to begin with if you want to get on the intellectual level."_

_"Some people do say though that if two people are together and love each other long enough they can create this telepathic connection."_

_"We definitely prove them right, eh?"_

_"Yeah but nobody would believe us, besides, I just like to think of it as a gift for the both of us for being such good friends over the years."_

_"Hahaha well let's get back to Gabite-"_

_"We'll find a cure from Erika."_

_"If you think so. But maybe he doesn't need to be cured."_

_"Nurse Joy said that she doesn't know the effects of such a virus, so it's better to get rid of it than to keep it and have it infect everyone else on the team."_

_"Well I said before, Gabite even tells me that he doesn't feel sick at all and that he actually feels more powerful after every battle."_

_"Maybe that's just the high given to him by the Pokerus... I doubt it's anything good."_

_"It's probably nothing to worry about. It's not like he'll die from it."_

Roy stops in his tracks as they walk.

_"Oh... Right... I'm sorry about that..."_

_"Back in your ball Torchie."_

_"Sorry."_ The Blaziken dematerializes back into its Cherish ball.

"Idiot." Roy continues down route 7 towards Celadon in the morning mist, now hanging his head in sadness.


	14. Ch 14: Friend's Mission & Bad Memories

Chapter 14: A Friend's Mission and Painful Memories

Author's note: A 4 chapter week, I'm pretty generous aren't I? Hahaha, oh yes, i'm just doing this because i just finished up chapter 43 today and i really need to catch up with what i'm writing. Don't be surprised if in the oncoming weeks i post one chapter per day!

The big men standing tall took a step back from the giant blob that is a Snorlax. It ran towards the group and leapt up into the air and landed with a large earthquake. The bikers' Swalot and Magneton were all almost completely knocked out. Lenny's Mightyena quickly finished the Swalot with a Crunch, and Heidi's Eevee finished off the Magneton with a simple headbutt attack. The Weezing still stood strong, and the other bikers knew they could only rely on an escape. After dousing the area with a smoke screen, the motorcyclists quickly drove off and had left the friends to catch up.

"What are you doing so far from the daycare?" Heidi asked.

"Well I was told the Safari Zone needed someone to help that knew how to take care of pokemon for a short while because one of their field men was injured on the job. I was going to be his replacement until he got better, but on my way here I accidentally won a few too many Voltorb flip games against those thugs in Celadon, so they chased me all the way here. I never rode so fast in my life!"

"Leave it to you to get into so much trouble," Jake sarcastically exclaimed. "I see Poochy finally evolved," signaling to his Mightyena.

"Oh, yeah! He evolved just before I left actually! I left my Happiny at home with Alexandra, and on the way here I caught a Houndour!" Leonard threw up a blue pokeball and out came a small tough looking dog. It growled up at the Mightyena, who seemed to scoff and pushed it away. A motorcycle drove past us, the angry guy yelling "Get off the road!" They decided then to move over to the sidewalk on the left side of the road. The conversation continued flawlessly.

"What is it with you and the Dark types?"

"What? They're the coolest of them all!"

"Speaking of which how's _your_ Eevee Len? Has it evolved into an Umbreon yet?"

"No, not yet, but I'm working on it!"

Heidi finally gets a word in, "Wait, YOU have an Eevee too!?"

"Yeah, of course. The best part is it was Green's Eevee's egg! Imagine how powerful my little guy is gonna get!"

Heidi looked in amazement. "GREEN GAVE YOU AN EEVEE EGG?!" Jacob guesses that she knows about the legendary Champion Green who was dethroned after 1 week by his rival Red, who gave the title back and continued to train on his own. "I WANNA SEE YOUR EEVEE! CAN MINE PLAY WITH IT!?" She was up in his face now.

"Alright! But its not like it is any better than your Eevee!" He puts down a Yellow and Black ball, an Ultra Ball. I guess he seemed it befitting that a good pokemon has a good pokeball. Out came an Eevee slightly larger than Heidi's own, with a small spiking of its hair instead of the cowlick most Eevees had. It recognized its fellow species member and they started to frolic on the cement path. Len returned his other two pokemon and Snorlax, now asleep, was returned to his ball as well. Heidi, now curious about Len's Eevee, asks, "Wait, why did Green give YOU of all people an Eevee egg?"

"Well Heidi, when he showd up to the daycare and saw an Eevee playing in the yard, he stopped and started talking to me about Eevee. He was explaining to me how his Eevee evolved into an Umbreon after 4 years of being his very best friend. When he mentioned the Umbreon I went on for about 10 minutes about how much I would die to have one of my own, and he gave me an Eevee egg! Apparently his Umbreon and a Jolteon got a little friendly at Oak's and they had this egg, and he was walking around waiting for it to hatch. He just happened to see the Eevee we were taking care of and because he stopped I became the lucky owner of his Eevee's son!" He told the story with much gusto, as usual, with Heidi hanging on every word.

"Wow! You are so lucky!" she said with amazement in her voice. "Having a champion's pokemon's egg makes you, like, related to him!" Jacob and Len laughed at her suggestion.

They began walking towards Fuschia again, the two Eevees skipping ahead of the group. Alexandra came back out and perched itself on Jacob's shoulder again, a large smile on its face.

* * *

"Please! Please, can you save my Gligar!?"

"I'm sorry, we don't know what's wrong with it."

"But you have to save Gligar or he's going to die!"

"The most we can do is make him more comfortable-"

"But you're nurse Joy! You're supposed to make pokemon better!"

"I'm sorry little boy, I'm so sorry, but this is all we can do."

The boy cries into the foot of the bed his Gligar is lying in. All he can do is wail as his Gligar slowly fades away from this world. What seems to be the faded image of his older brother puts his hand on his shoulder, "He was a great pokemon. He loved you as his owner. Be strong for him." The older man leaves the room and leaves the boy crying at the bed, alone and frightened. His Torchic forces its way out of the pokeball and onto his lap. It also starts to shed tears for its friend.

"HAH! OH. Oh... That dream again..." It was midday as the boy in the dream, now older, awoke from his nap on a bench in Saffron City.

_"You shouldn't torture yourself like that."_

"I promised myself I would never lose anyone again."

_"That may be so, but you can't dwell on the past."_

"Stop trying to sound like a cliché from an anime or something."

_"It's true though. Clichés are created for that reason."_

"Just shut up. Please." The Blaziken next to the boy lowers its head and re-enters its pokeball. "Just shut up..."


	15. Ch 15: Fuchsia City & Unique Pokemon

Chapter 15: Fuchsia City and Unique Pokemon

Author's note: This is the start of a great week because i'm going 1 chapter a day for the entire week! This is the shortest chapter by far so don't worry, it gets longer and starts to really pick up. Chapter 47 is currently being worked on and i'm having goosebumps just writing about it! Well chapter 15, enjoy

The sun was still high in the sky, but it was lowering itself slowly in the late-afternoon. The trio entered Fuschia City not too long ago, and were in the Pokemart... Heidi found another bauble she just _HAD_ to buy. It was more money than she was carrying, so she starts to beg her two "Older brothers" for just a few more pokeyen. Lenny doesn't cave at all but eventually Jacob just has to give her a little more. She walks out of the store happily with a plush Teddiursa that just fits in her bag. They loosely search for a motel or hotel to stay the night so they wouldn't have to camp out, but Len says, "Well as a replacement member of the Safari Zone the manager said they'd pay for a single room for me to live in for the time being!"

"I call the couch," says Jacob, not missing a beat.

"Whaa-?" Heidi stands there looking confused. "Hold on just a sec!"

"What? Lenny said he has a single hotel room somewhere and I called the couch," Jacob says with a smirk.

"Well I'm not sure it even has a couch..." Lenny states dejectedly. He pulls out a map of Fuschia with a circle around one building. "This is the hotel they're letting me stay at, so we'll see when we get there."

While walking around looking for the hotel they notice a few pens throughout Fuschia, each holding a different rare pokemon. A Kangaskhan in this one nustling with its baby, a Lapras in the one over there swimming elegantly for a few children, and a Chansey happily hopping about in its pen while an older couple watch it have fun. "Wow, so these are some of the pokemon in the safari zone?" a cute voice asks.

"Not even close Heidi. They have at least 50 more species of pokemon in the first area alone! It houses more rare pokemon than the Hoenn Safari Zone and the Great Marsh in Sinnoh combined! It houses pokemon from all regions too, so you could go from seeing a Nidorina to seeing a Croagunk, or even a Quagsire, or even better yet, a Roselia!" Heidi was enthralled in all of the pokemon you could possibly catch in the Safari zone alone, and was planning on having a field day when she played the Safari game.

"But you have no more money Heidi, remember?" Jacob said, pointing at her Teddiursa plush.

"But my big bro will gimme some, right?" She looked at Jacob with more puppy dog eyes that he couldn't resist. He gave her 500 pokeyen for tomorrow's game.

A few minutes and a few turns later, they approach a medium sized, five story building. It isn't anything fancy, but they are all more than relieved to see their home for the next few nights. Len walks up to the counter and the receptionist happily greets the three of them with a smile. Len mentions the manager from the safari zone and the receptionist immediately turns to her computer behind her. She says aloud the room he has is on the third floor. "But... are these two with you?" she asks.

"Yes, well, kind of. They aren't here for the Safari Zone work, they're here to challenge Koga."

"Well I can easily give you a two-bed room if that'll be easier on the three of you. It wouldn't cost any extra and I can tell the Manager the new telephone number for your room."

"Oh wow really? Thanks a lot! That'll really help! Are you sure it won't be a problem or cost any extra?"

"Yes, sure. Especially after the Rocket attack in Celadon, nobody has been commuting recently. You are actually only one of five groups of people currently staying in the hotel."

They discuss hotel arrangements further while Heidi talks to Jacob (who isn't listening) about what she wants her Eevee to evolve into. He hears something about Vaporeon, or Jolteon, or Umbreon, or whatever. It all doens't matter because they get a two bed suite with a television and a chair big enough for a certain small girl to sleep on. Of course an extra blanket and pillow were supplied to the group for the night. It was still early so the three of them decided to walk around and find the various pokemon showcased in habitats around the city. It wasn't a long walk because they only stayed in their quadrant of the city, and because the sun uncharacteristically set quicker today than expected (probably due to the clouds on the horizon). The notable pokemon (on Jacob's had-to-catch-list) they saw were a Riolu, a Dratini, an Emolga, and a Banette. There were a lot of unique pokemon that they all had hoped to catch soon enough. It began to get later so Jacob decided to go back to the Hotel and sleep. On the way to the hotel with one of the room keys he accidentally bumped into a woman wearing all black, and a black hat. "Hey, watch it!" she shouted.

"S-sorry about that!" Jacob stammered. She turned away and spat at the ground.

"Whatever kid, just don't mess with us." She ran off around a corner. Not knowing what she meant by "us" he shrugged off the event and finally made his way to the Hotel. He didn't notice the red "R" on the woman's hat.


	16. Ch 16: Roy's Burden & Bill

Chapter 16 Roy's Burden and Bill

Author's Note: Ok, this chapter is pretty short too, but don't worry! Another is coming out tomorrow.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SEE ERIKA NOW?!"

"W-well s-sir, she's at home having dinner with her family now, I don't know if she'll even be back tonight..."  
Roy gave a long sigh, "Fine, can you at least tell me her address?"

"I'm afraid I can't s-"

"But this is an emergency! My Gabite is sick and I need her to help me find a cure before something happens to it!"

"I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait for her to come back..."

"HAH! FINE! KEEP GIVING ME THE SAME DAMN EXCUSE DAY AFTER DAY!"

He leaves the large green-house like building through the front door angry and physically spent. Nighttime was falling and he has been in Celadon for a few days now trying to find Erika, he had barely eaten or slept in his quest to find the elusive Gym Leader.

"What kind of Leader doesn't even spend time at her gym! That's just retarded!"

Torchie materializes out of his ball and sits down next to the now disheartened Roy.

_"Well you know as well as I do that the Gym was attacked recently. Didn't you also notice that there weren't any pokemon frolicking about?"_ It was true, what Torchie said. Not a single grass pokemon was to be seen in the last few days he spent trying to find Erika. _"It's possible she's staying at home with her grass types so they don't get stolen."_

"Yeah, but still, she should at least show up sometimes!" He gets up, followed by his Blaziken, and walks over to his nearby campsite just across the street from the Celadon Gym. "I've been sitting here for the past week and she hasn't even walked by here once!"

"HEY KID!" Roy turns to see a few cops walking over towards him. They look determined and ready for a battle.

"What's the problem ossifer?"

"The problem is.. Wait, what did you call me? Whatever, anyway, you've been here for a week and you look awfully suspicious. You're being placed under arrest for suspicion of being with Team Rocket!" Torchie stands up and gets in between Roy and the cop, taking a battling stance.

"Stop Torchie," he said aloud so the cops would hear him, "this is bullcrap and you know it, you can't just arrest me!"

"Yeah, sure kid, you're coming along with us!"

"It's okay, he's with us!" A feminine voice pops up in the distance. It was a girl with her eyes closed wearing a kimono with her short purple hair hanging down around her face. She was accompanied by a very tall boy, possibly 6'3" and he was very big, like a smaller, slimmer Snorlax. He had long-ish brown hair that was close cropped, and a full beard and mustache that were of the same shade. He wore a faded blue T-shirt and regular blue-jeans with a large black belt with a few pokeballs hanging off of it.

"He's a friend of mine," the guy's voice was deep and manly.

"So if you would please officer, let him be?"

"Y-yes ma'm!" The police men ran off after the perfectly timed encounter with the city's Gym Leader.

"Thanks for that... I know who you are Erika, thanks a lot, but who's he?"

"I'm Bill, I'm from Lillycove and I'm a friend of Erika's brother, Jacob."

"Thanks Bill, but why did you save me?"

"I love the Mosdeep Carvanhas!" He threw up his arms in excitement as Roy looked down at his hoodie.

"But didn't you say you're from Lillycove? The Carvanhas and the Huntails are huge rivals."

"I know, that can't stop me from loving another team." The new boy was extremely eccentric and amusing, as can be seen by Erika's giggling during their conversation.

"So you said you needed to find me?"

"YES, actually, I need you to help me with my Gabite. He has Pokerus and I was wondering if-"

"I'm sorry, but there isn't a single herb that can cure it, but don't worry, it goes away after a while, and afterwards the pokemon can never catch it again."

"Thanks for that but, how do you know so much about it?"

"A few of my own pokemon had the Pokerus virus as well. It doesn't harm the pokemon at all, in fact I think it makes them stronger while it has the disease. That's how they seemed at least, so there shouldn't be any need to worry."

"Thanks miss, I really appreciate it."

"So, what's your name?" Bill asked enthusiastically.

"Oh, my name is.. Roy.. Roy Stone."

Erika's ears perked up a bit, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Steven Stone, would you?"

"Actually yes, he's my older broth-"

"OH MY GOD!" Bill screamed loudly and excitedly into the night, "Jacob loves Steven Stone! You just have to meet him, I'm sure he'd love it!"

"I'm not exactly sure, I'm not my brother you know. Plus I'm here in the Kanto region for another reason."

"Is it to fight the Rockets?" This time Erika asked the question.

"Actually, yes, it i-"

"I'm here to help fight against them too! What a coincidence!"

"And Jacob said he was going to do whatever he can to defeat them as well," informed Erika.

"Why don't you help me find Jacob? That way we can all defeat Team Rocket together!"

"That sounds like fun but-"

"GREAT! You're gonna like our group of friends!"

Erika giggled, "You're stuck now."

Roy sighed as Bill continued to drone on about stories with his friends. Torchie couldn't help but laugh at the helpless Roy and re-entered his pokeball in a flash. Roy thought that this is either going to be a hindrance, or a great time.


	17. Ch 17: Fun in the Safari Zone

Chapter 17: Fun in the Safari Zone and Riolu's Tragedy

"GOTCHA!" Heidi shouted as she leapt over a bush. She was chasing down a Nidorino in the Safari Zone and almost had it cornered. "C'mon! Just lemme catch you!" She whipped a Safari ball at the Nidorino, which it proceeded to kick back at Heidi, connecting with her forehead. She yelped in pain as her Eevee finally caught up with her, panting in exhaustion. "Let's take a break Eevee," she dejectedly said. The Eevee fell over sighing as it realizes it can finally rest for a few moments. There weren't many trees in this part of the Safari Zone, but a lot of shrubbery and medium-sized grass. It was a small part of the mountainous region, the small rocky mountain's base itself being maybe 50 yards away from where Heidi lay now. "Waaaahhhh! I haven't caught a single thing all day! Who knew catching a stupid pokemon would be this hard." Heidi stood up and kicked her Safari ball in a rage. It flew like a bullet towards a nearby bush and bounced off of something that shouted out in suprise. The Riolu jumped out of the bush, able to block the oncoming ball; It sprinted around towards a tree, jumped up, and kicked off of a branch into the higher limbs. Heidi's trademark intense look came into her eyes when she decided that this is the moment she catches something.

Jacob and Alexandra wander around a rough and mountainous part of the Safari Zone looking for who knows what. The Togepi hops up and down on rocks joyfully while Jacob struggles to even gain some footing. He can hear movements up ahead. It's probably just another Geodude or Nosepass. He walks a few more steps up the rocky hill and sees a small school of Magnemite up ahead, around 5 of them. Alexandra also takes notice and runs up to greet them, not knowing that Jacob wanted to sneak up on them. The startled Magnemite scatter and a few bump into each other forcefully. Three of the Magnemite are stuck together shortly, then separate, only staying a few inches apart from each other. They flee as a group in the same direction. "Did they just... evolve?" Jacob asks himself. He picks up his Togepi and walks in the direction of the newly evolved Magneton.

She dashed toward the trunk of the small, but full in leaves tree, and looked up. She saw the blue and black creature resting, but still looking around for its attacker. As it looks down Heidi starts climbing up. It jumps up to a higher limb and barks at her as a warning not to come closer. She ignores it and continues up the tree, looking as fierce as ever. The Riolu takes notice and decides to take action. It jumps down towards the little girl but overshot her and hit its head on a branch. Heidi jumps off the side of the tree and catches the falling Riolu in her arms. She lands on her back but it didn't hurt a lot considering she was only 5 feet off the ground when she started her free fall. Riolu looks at its savior, and jumps back in fright. Heidi offers her hand, "Don't worry, I saved you!" It approaches her slowly. She smiles and asks, "Do you want to be friends with me?" Riolu gives an uncertain nod and approaches her outstretched hand slowly. It carefully grabs hold of her hand with its small blue paw. Eevee walks up to Riolu and greets it happily. The Riolu sprints back into the bush it was first near. "Don't be shy! It's just my first friend Eevee! You two can get along great!" Eevee approaches the bush where the Riolu hid; after getting extremely close to the bush the Eevee dashes back as quick as it could yelping and barking as loudly as it possibly can, urging Heidi to come over by biting her sleeve and pulling. "What's wrong Eevee?!" She dashes over to the bush where the Riolu is and shrieks in horror at what is there.

"How the hell could a Magneton get away so quickly?" Jacob continued to search the mountainside overlooking a small plain for a short while. Alexandra trilled happily as she sat in his backpack with her head poking out. He heard a high pitched scream from the plain, and the Magneton jumped out from cover in fright, revealing itself to Jacob. "There you are!" he shouted as he let loose a Safari ball. It clunked off a nearby rock and Magneton floated towards the sound from before. "Oh no you don't!" Jacob whipped a few more balls at the fleeing Steel type, and each Safari ball missed only by a short distance, one even going in between all three Magnemite. The small group was rushing towards the base of the cliff, each failed attempt warranting another failed attempt at catching the floating pokemon. As they reached a small plateau in the mountain near the grassland, a Safari ball finally made contact, and ensnared the Magneton. The ball shook violently as the Magneton tried to escape, and began rolling down the side of the mountain.

Jacob quickly gave chase to the agile ball, as it bounced from rock to rock, gaining a few more scratches and small cracks with each bounce. The ball stopped glowing red at the closing point meaning he caught the Magneton, but now he has to catch the ball itself. The ball had a big bounce near the bottom of the mountain and flew towards the trunk of a tree. It landed right at the base and Jacob, now extremely winded caught up with his prize. He looked around and saw Heidi by a small shrub, with a horrific look on her face. It looked as though she stumbled backwards and fell. "Heidi! What's wrong!?" He ran over as she lifted her arm and pointed at the bush. Jacob sprinted towards it, pushed aside the leaves and discovered the source of her fear.

The Lucario Riolu was nuzzling up against had a large cut across its stomach with blood still gushing out of it.


	18. Ch 18: Tragic Losses

Chapter 18: Tragic Losses

Author's Note: I changed the picture because I thought it looked cooler. Credit goes to the pokemon tabletop game guide, it's really a hell of a game, and i'm gonna stop myself now before I ramble. If ya like the pic let me know, if not i'll change it back. ENJOY CHAPTER 18

Jacob panicked at the gruesome sight, not knowing what to do. "Holy shit holy shit holy shit, uhh... HEIDI! Call 911 now and tell them where we are!" Heidi, still trembling with fear could hardly hold onto her phone, let alone press the buttons correctly. It took a few seconds but she finally contacted the authorities.

"W-w-we need an a-a-ambulance! T-t-the Safari zone by the m-m-m-m-mountain!... There's a L-lucario that's dying!"

Meanwhile Jacob pulled out of his bag a small med kit. He hardly knew how to use it but he knew on a wound the first thing to do was apply pressure. He took out a long strip of gauze and attempted to cover the Lucario's cut. Riolu began barking, telling Jacob to stay away. He ignored it completely and wrapped the medical gauze around the Lucario's stomach. Riolu bit Jacob's arm. "Ow! Jesus! I'm doing this to help you!" The Riolu loosened its bite and watched Jacob work. He hardly knew what he was doing, but the bleeding did slow down. He didn't know what to do from here so he kept on changing the gauze to clean strips and constantly applying pressure.

The sirens could be heard in less than a minute from when Heidi finished her call. She was still sitting in the same spot with the same terrified look on her face. The Lucario moaned in agony, and tried to reach its Riolu with an outstretched paw. Riolu let go of Jacob and embraced its father. Lucario gently patted its son's head, and said something to it in its pokemon language. Riolu began crying, Jacob continued doing what he could, the sirens were getting closer, and Lucario slowly closed its eyes.

A Jeep with a siren rolled up, almost flipping as it skidded to a stop. Leonard jumped out of the truck with a Nurse Joy, an Officer Jenny, and a few more staff of the Safari Zone. "Jacob! What is going on?!"

"I am trying to stop a pokemon from dying, what the hell do you think is going on!?"

"It's alright, move aside, I'll take over from here," the Nurse told Jacob. He backed off slowly, the Riolu following suit, and watched the Nurse's hands fly over the Lucario, checking pulse, making sure its still conscious, checking for broken bones, suturing up the wound, applying gauze, checking its pulse again, "Jenny! We need a stretcher! This Lucario is in very unstable condition!"

"You hear her boys! Let's get going!" Leonard and another man grabbed the stretcher and made their way over to the bush. They lifted the Lucario onto it quickly and loaded up the Jeep. The Riolu tried to run after them but Jenny pushed it aside, "I'm sorry, but you have to stay here, we are trying to save your daddy." The small pokemon began crying and screaming for its father. Heidi grabbed hold of it and hugged the furious Riolu, and calmly said, "It's gonna be okay, they're gonna help your daddy!" She began tearing up as well, "Don't worry! Everything's... gonna be..." Riolu and Heidi began crying as the Jeep rolled away.

* * *

Another Jeep came by to bring Heidi, Jacob, and Riolu to the center where the Lucario was being helped not long after the first one left. They sat for a while in front of the operating room, where they heard nothing but the pit-pat of Riolu walking around the room in fright. After a few hours Nurse Joy came out of the room, and pulled Jacob aside. Heidi, knowing what she was going to say, picked up Riolu and began hugging it tightly.

"We did all we could for the Lucario, but... it couldn't be saved. It lost too much blood while it was out in the safari zone. I'm... sorry."

Riolu wept loudly for the loss of its only parent, and embraced Heidi even more. "Riolu," Heidi began, "We will find the people that did this and make them pay." She gained an odd look, one of despair, but also part intense. It was a face she hasn't made before, which Jacob found unusual. "Bro," Heidi began again, "We have to destroy Team Rocket."

* * *

"Gligar, don't go! Please! We are gonna be the best in all of Hoenn! We are gonna defeat Wallace together!" The Gligar looked at the boy and muttered something. The Torchic fully understood it, but the boy was wailing too hard to even hear it say anything. The Torchic hopped onto the bed and sat next to Gligar in its final moments as Gligar continued to mutter something in its pokemon language.

"Don't die.. Gligar…"

Roy awoke in a cold sweat. "God-DAMN this nightmare!"

"What's wrong dude?"

"Oh, nothing, go back to sleep…" Bill takes this command and plops himself back into his sleeping bag; both were sleeping even though it was midday. It was because Bill insisted on walking towards Lavender Town throughout the entire night so they can watch the sun rise behind Pokemon Tower. They both fell asleep around 9AM. It was probably noon now.

_"Why do you keep reliving this over and over again?"_

_"Because I need to remind myself the promise I made."_

_"What makes you think you'd forget it?"_

_"I won't ever forget it."_

_"….."_

_"Do you remember what Gligar said to you on that day?"_

_"You've asked this time and time again and I always respond with the same thing."_

_"Yeah, I know, just wishful thinking…"_

_"Go back to sleep, you need your rest."_

_"You might be right." _He rests his head on the pillow of his sleeping bag. _"Torchie."_

_"Yes?"_

_"I'll protect you, and all the other pokemon threatened by Team Rocket."_

_"That's a pretty big task. You sure you're up for it?"_

_"Don't worry, we got this."_

_"We as in you and me, or you and Bill?"_

_"All of us. And maybe even my brother should he choose to get involved."_

_"Isn't he in the Orre Region researching some ancient ruins?"_

_"Yeah, that place is pretty far away… I bet he'll come back."_

_"I'd think the Elite Four and Champion of this region would take care of Team Rocket."_

_"Maybe they've gone somewhere to protect their own pokemon."_

_"If they are the best trainers of the Kanto they should be able to defeat a two-bit gang."_

_"That's the problem. Team Rocket isn't just a gang. You remember what happened last time Team Rocket was around?"_

_"Yeah, some dude named Red had to come in and kick ass."_

_"And where were all the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members?"_

_"You got me there."_

_"And they'll do the same now."_

_"Makes sense."_

_"Lance was the only one that took an active role."_

_"Is he still in the Elite Four?"_

_"I don't know, maybe… Hopefully…"_

_"Don't worry, just go to sleep and get some rest. We'll figure this out later."_

_"Fine."_ Roy rolled over in his sleeping bag while Torchie stands up next to the sleeping trainers. The Blaziken walks outside of the tent and sits down in front of the entrance. A Ninetales comes out of the tent after it, and starts talking in its pokemon language:

"Seems like you two have some inhibitions about the situation."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Bill's Ninetales. He loves me more than anything."

"Ah… and you could hear what we were saying?"

"No but I am a Ninetales after all, I can sense these things."

"He's a fragile guy, he's still a kid."

"It may not look it but Bill is much more mature than he is."

"At this point I'll take your word for it."

"Just don't get too carried away with whatever mission you guys are on. We are only looking for Bill's friend right now, Team Rocket is only second on our priority list."

"Why do you care about finding this guy so much?"

"Because once the band gets back together nobody will be able to stand in our way, or so Billy says."

The Ninetales confidently walks back into the tent, leaving Blaziken in thought.


	19. Ch 19: Anger & Strategy

Chapter 19: Anger and Strategy

Author's note: Day 6 of daily posting, keep reading, keep enjoying, and tell me your thoughts on the story, anything you like, anything i can do better, etc. I want to make sure my readers are getting the best experience i can give you! :D

He never thought it would be like this. How could it get like this? All the TV programs never showed anything this heart wrenching and gruesome. All those articles of trainers having fun with their pokemon, battling for glory and fame never had anything like this. Nothing could have prepared anything for this... tragedy... A baby Riolu crying in the arms of a 12 year old girl over the death of its parent. Nowhere would you see a story like this when you're being encouraged to go out into the world and adventure on your own, with nobody but your most trusted sidekick and maybe a few friends. How could they? "My God..." Jacob sighed outside of the operating room. "Heidi-"

"You heard me. We have to destroy Team Rocket."

"Heidi, we can't-"

"We have to!" She was filling up, trying not to bawl her eyes out again and keep her intense look. "We can't let any more pokemon die!"

"Heidi, listen! We can't just walk up to Team Rocket's hideout and make them stop-"

"THEN WHO WILL? The police won't! They didn't help save Marowak! They didn't save Lucario! They weren't even around when we fought them off in Celadon! The last time Team Rocket was beaten by one trainer!"

"Yes, and that trainer is the strongest in the entire world, and nobody even knows where he is now!"

"Then let's find him!"

"Then what? 'Oh hey Red! Team Rocket's back, wanna destroy them again for us!?' It doesn't work like that!"

"What else could we do?"

"Nothing! This is an elite organization bent on who knows what! If we get in their way we'll end up just like Lucario! Do you want that?!"

"N-n-no..." Heidi started to tear.

"Do you think your mother and father would want to find out you tried to go against a huge organization and got yourself killed?!"

"N-noo..." She began to cry.

"Do you want to risk losing all of your precious pokemon to Team Rocket where they'll do God-awful things to Eevee, and Hootie, and-"

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Heidi buried herself in the head of the Riolu. "I know we can't do anything! But- But-... we have to try something!"

Jacob stood there, feeling horrible for yelling at Heidi. He knew what he did was wrong, but there was no other way to get Heidi to understand how powerless they were. "Heidi..." He stood dejectedly over the crying girl. "I'm... Sorry for that."

Sniveling, Heidi manages to speak up again, "It's- okay, big bro."

"I'll promise you this, once we become powerful enough, we will take on Team Rocket, but now is not that time. We still have small pokemon." He kneels down in front of her, "I promise we'll get stronger, together."

The two smile at each other for the first time in what felt like days. Jacob held out his hand, and Heidi took hold of it. She held Riolu's hand, and they all walked out of the pokemon center with a new mission: to surpass Red and become the strongest trainers in history.

* * *

Back in the hotel room that night, the two trainers were watching the news. A small story about a petty thievery in downtown that was stopped quickly by one of Koga's ninja students, a big story about how Koga is preparing for a potential Rocket break-in, a small story about Lucario and two courageous trainers that tried to save it with a statement from police Chief Jenny: "We believe it to be linked to Team Rocket but we aren't 100% sure." Len walked into the room already half undressed, panting in exhaustion, then collapsing on the bed. "I... don't EVER... want to do that again," he murmured while half-awake through his pillow. Knowing what he was complaining about, Jacob decided to ask him about the plan he and Heidi came up with earlier.

"You think we do too?"

"Well of course not, you know what I mean."

"Well, listen, me 'n Heidi are going to take down Team Rocket. You in?"

"What in the hell are you talking about? You know the last person to do that wa-"

"Was Red, the greatest trainer of all time, blah blah blah, yes, we know. The point is... do you want to help?"

"I don't think it's possible."

Heidi pipes up: "It will be, and we'll crush them all." The two significantly older boys look at her, and are surprised to see such a menacing look on her face. It was a mix between her intense face, and another they've never seen... a strange and twisted determination possibly? "We have to, for Riolu." She indicates the blue and black dog on the chair opposite her across the small coffee table.

"Well," Len started, "I don't think my parents, let alone Alexandra (the mention of her name not only sends Jacob in a swoon, but also triggers Alexandra the Togepi to pop out of its ball and wander about the room) would want me to get involved in a dangerous mission while I have work to think of."

"Ugh, that's right, you have the job here for now."

(Alexandra greets the Riolu as a new friend happily. Riolu is detached and doesn't seem to want to talk to Alexandra)

"If you're willing to stay 2 weeks until I'm done be my guest, besides, you still have to challenge the gym here, don't you?"

"That's right. We have to fight Koga in a few days... Heidi, we should focus on that now."

"Fine, I will," she says angrily, "but only because I'll become a stronger trainer that way."

"I'm worried for you Heidi-"

(Alexandra can't seem to cheer up its new friend and becomes saddened, walking back to her ball and putting herself inside)

"Why Jacob?" She looks in his general direction.

"I just am..." Jacob turns away from Heidi, while the look in her eyes became more distorted and demented.


	20. Ch 20: Roy and Bill

Chapter 20 Roy and Bill

"I still don't understand why we couldn't just take Cycling Road down to Fuchsia-"

"Because that's no fun! Don't you know how to have fun on a journey?"

"Well yeah, but my way of fun is getting to my destination quickly-"

"It's not about the destination! It's how you get there that matters!"

"I like to get there quickly."

"You need to lighten up."

"You need to be serious."

Bill's voice drops to a lower decibel, "I can be serious when I want to." His voice goes higher again, "But I like to have fun!"

_"He's right, you should lighten up,"_ Torchie says as he pops out of his pokeball.

"Oh be quiet," Roy mistakenly said this aloud.

"Who are you talking to?" Bill said somewhat angrily.

"Oh, um, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"You're talking to your Blaziken, right?"

"... Yeeaahhh... So-?"

"That's awesome! I thought I was the only one!"

"What do you mean?"

Bill grabs at his Love ball and tosses it up into the air, and an elegant Ninetales is revealed from the ball. "Sweetie, this is Roy, Roy, my Ninetales." The Ninetales he referred to as Sweetie bowed in respect to Roy and Torchie.

_"Don't you think you're showing off Bill?"_

"Nah, It's okay, he can talk to his Blaziken too!"

_"Well isn't that something."_

"Wait, so you can telepath with your Ninetales-"

"Just like you can with your Blaziken!"

_"It's not that uncommon if you really think about how many people forge strong bonds with their pokemon, like ours." _Torchie explained to Roy.

"That's.. pretty cool." Roy said, somewhat uninterested.

"Hey, we should have a battle between our two pokemon, ya know, just as practice."

_"Yes, practice, you sure you don't want to just pummel him into the ground with me like last time?"_

"Hahaha, if you call pummeling a nice friendly duel then sure, why not?"

"Wait, what exactly did your Ninetales say?"

"Haha nothing, so wanna battle or what?"

"I'll pass."

_"See Billy, he's afraid of me anyway."_

Bill laughs aloud at his Ninetales' remark. Torchie and Roy look at him quizzically, then just blow it off as the four of them continue down route 8.

* * *

"Jeez, what's going on here?"

_"It looks completely empty..."_

"But where did everyone go?"

"I'd ask the same thing if I didn't see them all up there." Bill indicates to the top of Pokemon Tower where all the townsfolk and their pokemon seem to have been corralled. Flying pokemon try to escape the building but black and purple pokeballs rain down from the zeppelin above aimed straight at them, and snagging them from their trainers. One Scyther was bold enough to even slash a few away before getting captured by one of the evil pokeballs.

"What the hell is going on here!?"

Bill, and Torchie reply with the same conclusion: "Team Rocket's behind this."

"Hey! What are you two kids doing! Get in the tower like the rest of the folks and-"

_"Flamethrower."_

The Ninetales lets loose a flurry of fire at the feet of the Rocket member, pushing him back and forcing him to stumble away.

"B-B-BACK UP! I NEED BACKUP HERE!"

Before anything more could happen three more goons came out of nearby buildings.

"What's the matter Jack?" said the shorter one.

"This kid's Ninetales is strong!"

"You weakling! Can't even handle a little fire?" said the woman.

"Either way all their pokemon are ours!" said the big one.

_"Ready Torchie?"_

_"Ready."_

As the four trainers let out a single pokemon each, the Blaziken went into action, uppercutting the white outlines of just-materializing pokemon straight out of their balls and into the sky. The Blaziken jumped high into the sky and as the white form revealed a Raticate it was sent back down to earth by a fiery Blaze Kick, and quickly defeated. The other three pokemon, now fallen back to earth after the quick attacks from the Fire/Fighting-type were a Blastoise, a Hitmonchan, and a Noctowl.

_"Fire spin."_

_"You got it Billy-boy."_ The Ninetales stood firm in the ground and shot out a giant ring of fire to engulf the three pokemon now standing on the ground. The Noctowl managed to fly straight up out of the ring as the Blaziken is now touching down itself.

_"Torch them Torchie."_

_"Overheat it is!" _The Blaziken took aim at the Noctowl and launched a large burst of flame from its mouth, making almost immediate contact with the Flying pokemon, and took it down just as fast. Before the next command could come out the Blastoise doused the fire-spin with a water gun move, and readied its cannons at the Ninetales.

"Hydro pump Blastoise!"

Bill dashes in front of his beloved Ninetales and takes the Hydro Pump full-on in his back. He slides towards his pokemon but tries his best to get a foothold in the ground.

_"You should really stop doing that you know, you're going to get hurt."_

_"You know I'd take any hit for you. Now hurry up and use Heat Wave."_

_"Alright hun."_

The Ninetales leaps over her master as the torrents of water finally subside and releases large gusts of hot air aimed at her foes. The Hitmonchan goes down as quickly as the Noctowl does, and the Blastoise hardly reacts at all.

"_Finish the Blastoise Torchie."_

_"How should I go about doing that?"_

_"I dunno, Sky Uppercut? High Jump Kick?"_

_"I learned a new one recently, I think you'll like it."_

The Blaziken forms two fists and pulls them back as it prepares to charge at the Blastoise. It dashes forward an its fists start pouring out electricity.

"Ooh-ho-ho! Thunder Punch, nice one Torchie!" The Blaziken gets within range of the Blastoise but a green shield prevents it from making contact. The electricity in its fists wear away as the green shield disappears.

_"Confuse ray."_

_"As you wish master."_

_"Heehee, don't say it like that, you know what that does to me."_

_"This battle is already won so there's time to fool around."_

_"Whatever, just do your stuff Lovely."_

Ninetales shoots a large black beam at the Blastoise, making contact with its face. The Blastoise, now dazed and confused, starts launching Hydro Pumps in random locations, first at the Rocket woman, then at one of the nearby buildings, then as it aims at the Pokemon Tower, the big Rocket goon yells, "No! Don't aim there! Snap out of it!" At this command the giant turtle pokemon stops what it is doing and finally notices where its aiming, but before it has the chance to turn around, Torchie lands a knee square in the middle of its shell, thus cracking it and causing it to faint.

"H-h-holy shi-"

"W-w-what just happened?"

"Our pokemon!"

"Go back to the tower!"

The four Rockets scurry off towards the Pokemon Tower and leave behind the two trainers that defeated them.

"That was one hell of a battle."

"Sure was Roy, sure was."

_"Don't be too protective of me next time Bill."_

_"You know I can't stop myself."_

"Well let's go figure out what's going down at the pokemon tower. I'd love to continue to beat down some Rocket scum."

_"Will you be using anyone other than me?"_

_"When you make an entrance as the hero, Torchie, you gotta be at your strongest. Of course I'm using you!"_

A noisy squeaking and static sound starts coming from the zeppelin above the Tower. It eventually calms itself to a masculine voice: "ATTENTION ALL ROCKET MEMBERS WITHIN THE TOWN. PRIORITY HAS BEEN SWITCHED TO DEFEATING TWO ROGUE TRAINERS NEAR THE OUTSKIRTS OF LAVENDER TOWN. ALL ROCKET MEMBERS WITHIN THE TOWER STAY AND MAKE SURE ALL POKEMON ARE HANDED OVER TO US. I REPEAT. PRIORITY HA-"

"Well it looks like we'll be in for a lot of fun now!" Bill says happily.

"Will you be able to handle yourself?"

"As long as your chicken can keep up!"

_"That BASTARD!"_ The Blaziken grunts and shoots flames from its wrists. Roy holds it back.

"Just tell fluffy there to keep up with Torchie and we'll be fine."

_"WHAT DID HE CALL ME?!" _The Ninetales spits fire at Roy's feet.

Bill smirks, "You've got yourself a match."

"I'll meet you at the tower. Just try to keep up." The two trainers split directions on their way to the Pokemon Tower.


	21. Ch 21: Roy and Bill Part 2

Chapter 21, Roy and Bill part 2

_"Wow, we met very little resistance on the way here,"_ Torchie said as he and Roy made their way to the foot of Pokemon Tower.

_"By little resistance you mean grunts with weak-ass pokemon!" _Roy was pumped and ready to kick more ass, but the plan was to wait for Bill before moving ahead. _"The strongest pokemon they sent at us was that Bastiodon and it didn't stand a chance!"_

_"Well it's me, what do you expect, hahaha!" _The two were very confident after their battles on the way here. Five trainers and 10 pokemon weren't enough to even marginally slow down Roy and Torchie.

_"I wonder where Bill is."_

A giant stream of fire comes blasting out of the second story of the Pokemon Tower, followed by a falling Rocket Grunt and his Zigzagoon.

_"Does that answer your question Roy?"_ The Blaziken turned to his trainer and smiled.

"ALRIGHT! LETS GO!" The two dash up a few flights of stairs before coming face to face with the destruction the Ninetales had caused. the entire second floor looked ashen and there were still some small fires burning on the wooden pillars. "Dude, if you keep this up the whole building is coming down!"

"Yeah! I know! But we gotta save those people first before we make this tower collapse…"

"YOU'RE PLANNING ON DESTROYING THE TOWER?!"

"No, but if it happens, it happens, and at this rate it's going to happen!"

"Well come on! We need to save the people on top if the tower's coming down!"

"You don't think I know that already?" The four of them (Torchie and Ninetales too) started dashing up the staircase to the third floor, then the fourth, and finally the fifth, where most of the townsfolk were being held against their will. There they saw two Rocket members not wearing the normal black uniforms, but two grey ones that looked somewhat similar. They turned, facing the two trainers now.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Said the male. He had short, sky-blue hair and an extremely gruff voice.

"It looks like they're causing us a bit of trouble, isn't that obvious Butch?" said the female. She had long blonde-orange hair down to the middle of her back in two large ponytails.

"It's called a rhetorical question Cassidy, haven't you ever heard one before?"

She glares at her partner harshly. "Shut up you stupid Dunsparce."

"Whoa, whoa, easy on the profanities!"

Bill looks over to Roy, "These guys are goofier than us!"

"There's nothing goofy between us," Roy replies fiercely.

"You two should be careful, we are Butch and Cassidy, two of the strongest pairs in Team Rocket," the woman said as she alluringly walked towards the two boys.

"You should watch yourself, or your pokemon will be gone before you know it," said Butch, who was still standing in front of the cowering people of Lavender Town.

"I'll take you on girl, Bill, take the guy."

"Oh, feisty now."

"Watch it Cassidy, he might get you with that scary looking Blaziken of his!" The two began to laugh.

This time Bill spoke up, "You won't be laughing when we are through with you two. Now draw your pokemon or let these people go."

"AHAHA! WHAT A WONDERFUL CHALLENGER!" Cassidy whipped a pokeball out and a Sharpedo ferociously flew towards the Blaziken. The Blaziken reacted with insanely fast speeds and uppercutted the Sharpedo through the ceiling. Not missing a beat, Butch tossed out an Octillery at Bill's Ninetales, who intercepted it with a Fire Spin, it was trapped but it wasn't being hurt at all. As the Sharpedo flew back down into the room and bounced on the floor it charged at Blaziken who was just regaining its footing and formed a giant spear of water with itself. Octillery fired massive shots of mud and gunk at the Ninetales who gracefully dodged each strike, and as the Aqua Jet from the Sharpedo made contact with the Blaziken, Ninetales had cast a Hex at the Octillery.

Octillery was un-phased and still stood strong against the onslaught of Ghost-type attacks, knowing fire wouldn't do much more to it. Torchie had taken massive damage from the Aqua Jet and stumbled backwards as Sharpedo fired a Dark pulse at the stumbling Blaziken. It wasn't very effective but it was enough to make it fall over. The Octillery took fire at the Blaziken with an Octozooka, and its only hope of escape was-

The floor beneath the Blaziken and Sharpedo had fallen through along with their two trainers. The destruction from Bill's earlier battles had finally started to take its toll on the structural integrity of the building. The startled Octillery hadn't noticed that the fiery barrier it had been surrounded by wore off as the Ninetails ran up to it and threw it across the room with an Extrasensory attack. After bouncing off the wall a Flamethrower consumed the room around it, giving Octillery massive burns, but still not doing much damage. Before Octillery could react it was thrown across the room again by Extrasensory. Another Hex attack struck the Octillery and did much more damage this time than the last time it struck the Water pokemon, and it was down for the count.

"Dammit, how the hell did you do that?"

Bill intensely looks across the room to his opponent and the crowd now cheering behind him, he turns his back to go up the next flight of stairs and says, "Because I love hard battles!"

Blaziken is too slow to land a single Jump Kick, Thunder Punch, or Sky Uppercut, and before long signs of fatigue are starting to set in. It's fast enough though to dodge more Aqua Jets and Hydro Pumps, but Torchie is slowly starting to lose this fight.

"Did you really think you could win kid!?"

"I can with help from my friends!" At this line his Gabite comes out of its ball and stops an incoming Water Jet from landing on the downed Torchie.

"That's not fair kid, and you know it!"

"I didn't think Rockets were one to fight fairly!"

"YA GOT THAT RIGHT KID!" A man hanging from a rope outside of a broken part of the wall had thrown a Black ball at the Gabite. The Gabite tried to dodge but was struck with it and dematerialized into the Black ball.

"Oh NO YOU DON'T!" Roy snapped his fingers and Porygon 2 came out of its ball immediately sensing the situation and using Psychic on the Black ball, and launching it back towards the spot where Gabite stood. "Torchie, grab it!" Blaziken rolled out of the way of another attempt at a water gun attack and dove straight at the black ball. It was then picked up and thrown across the room by a Psychic attack, the man out the window had released a Xatu from its ball which was now flying next to him.

"Grab the ball and let's go!" The Rocket Grunt said.

"NOOOOOOO!" Roy had commanded the Porygon 2 to use Hyper Beam not at the Xatu, or the Sharpedo, but straight at Cassidy. It made direct contact with her torso and launched her through the wall and out onto the mountainside that is one of the walls of the Pokemon Tower. The Porygon 2 took aim at the other Rocket Grunt, and fired a Tri-attack directly at him. The Xatu had no time to react as the man was thrown off of his rope down four stories to the ground below. Roy returned Torchie and Porygon 2 to their balls and walked over to the Black ball, released his Gabite, and smashed the ball under his foot. The Gabite returned itself to its ball as well, and Roy was left standing alone in a horribly torn apart room of the Pokemon Tower. People from the floors above started running past him down the stairs, not taking much notice of him. Bill rescued all the other people earlier, and is now escorting them all out.

"Hey Roy… What's the matter?"

"I almost lost him…" Bill notices the broken ball underneath Roy's foot.

"Oh, well at least you saved him, right?"

"I almost lost him… I almost broke my promise…"

"It's okay now, what's the problem?" Roy fell to his knees. People are still scurrying past but not as many now.

"I almost lost him… I almost…" Bill hoists him up over his shoulder.

"Alrighty, let's go. Sweetie, make sure everyone else leaves the building." Ninetales nods at its orders. "Come on buddy, let's go."

"…. almost…." Bill carried Roy out of the building, and Ninetales escorted all the civilians out. The Zeppelin was already on its way out of sight by the time they had all left the building. People were shouting, proclaiming that Bill and Roy were heroes, but all Roy could think of was how he almost broke his promise.


	22. Ch 22: Overtraining & A New Friend

Chapter 22: Overtraining and a New Comrade

A few eventless days have passed since Lucario's death. Riolu was accepted as a new member to Heidi's team, and all the other pokemon got along greatly with it. Riolu was still apprehensive because of the loss of its parent, but it eventually came out of its shell enough to train with Heidi. Len is off duty watching Heidi train her pokemon, while Jacob wanders about the town. Heidi has been pushing her pokemon especially hard the last few days, and a breeder like Len notices immediately. He doesn't say anything about it until today. Concernedly, he says, "You know if you keep pushing your pokemon to get stronger they are going to get injured or weak."

"I know my pokemon's limits, you don't need to tell me."

Len looks at Hootie's face, it lost the fire in its eyes to train over an hour ago, and Hootie was becoming exhausted. She had already worked with Riolu until it was tired, along with Gloom and Squirtle.

"Hootie looks pretty tired you know..."

"He can stand a few more drills," She was making him do loops and turns in the air in an effort to make him more agile, but Hootie's been slow due to its fatigue.

"I think you should be done," Len says this more assertively.

"Why? He's just slow today, that's all," Heidi becomes more assertive as well.

"Return him to his ball. Now."

"Don't tell me how to raise my pokemon!"

Len walks over forcefully to Heidi, rips a pokeball out of her bag, and throws it up for Hootie to return. Hootie happily lets it land on him and readies itself for a good rest.

"WHY'D YOU DO THAT!?" shouted the enraged preteen.

"Because he was exhausted and he would have fainted just from training with you!"

There's a suspended silence for a few moments.

"Whatever. It's Squirtles turn again anyway," At the mention of its name, the small turtle pokemon cowers and hides behind Eevee.

"I think you should be done training today Heidi," Len's rage is building every moment Heidi defies him.

"I already said I know my pokemon's limits!"

"You don't if you keep pushing them like this! They won't get better by being ran into the ground by their own trainer!"

Heidi mulls this over for a few seconds. She mockingly thinks about what she should do, "Hmm, I've considered your request but it has been denied!" She turns back to her pokemon, "Squirtle! Let's go!" The Squirtle shakes its head. "C'mon Squirt!" It continues to back away from Heidi. "Get over here Squirtle! NOW!" It retreats to its shell and says something in its pokemon language. From the tone it wasn't anything nice. "Fine! I don't need you! She takes out the Squirtle's pokeball and smashes it into the ground. "There! You aren't my pokemon anymore! Now get out of here!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH HEIDI!" Len stands up and starts yelling at the child. "Who the HELL do you think you are, throwing away your Squirtle like that! Can't you see it's frightened of you? Can't you see all your pokemon are afraid of you right now?!" She turns to her pokemon again, the Squirtle crying in its shell, the Eevee comforting the Riolu, the Gloom laying on its side, "If you keep treating your pokemon like this they will hate you and abandon you, do you want that? Is taking down Team Rocket worth losing the trust you built into your pokemon!?" Eevee starts barking along with Len. It's a ferocious bark aimed at Heidi.

Heidi shrugs off Len, her corrupted soul becoming more evident with every harsh reality thrown back at her, "I don't care. If they don't want to help me they can leave."

A hard wind blew from Heidi's direction, her short hair blowing in her face. It made her look even more demonic than before. Her hair was unkempt, her smile was gone, her clothes were dirty, and her body was covered in scrapes and bruises.

"I don't care who you are or what your goal is, anyone who treats their pokemon like that deserve to have their pokemon taken away." At the mention of her pokemon being taken Heidi was thrown into a rage. She charged at Len, screaming, throwing fists at random. Len sidesteps her easily and trips her accidentally. She gets up without missing a beat and headbutts Leonard in his ribcage. He pushed her away, back onto her butt, her face twisted and distraught, she was truly becoming demented. She began to charge back at Len when a voice was heard yelling in a short distance, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

A yellow ball was thrown in between the demon girl and the protector of her pokemon, and a Typhlosion separated the two now. What was strange was it was Jacob's voice, but not his pokemon. "There's only one person I know with a Typholsion," commented Len. "How are you John?" he asked with a smile.

"Same old, same old." Walking next to Jacob was a guy about his height, with the same kind of black hair, but just a bit longer. He had a small black goatee and deep brown eyes underneath two big black eyebrows. His skin was brown, like the gym leader of Pewter City: Brock, and he had a calm demeanor behind his voice. The man dressed in long blue-jeans and an ordinary T-shirt asked aloud, "So why are you two fighting?"

"She's working her pokemon to exhaustion. What she needs is a-" Jacob smacks Heidi across the face. The loud and resounding echo reverberates through the trees as Jacob confronts his partner, "What did I tell you about doing this!"

"I-I'm sorry big br-"

"Don't you 'big bro' me. I told you we would get strong together. There's no need for you to do this to your pokemon."

"B-but I wanted to get stronger so we could-"

"We will get stronger over time," Jacob's tone was changing from harsh to sympathetic, as Heidi's rage continued to die down, "we can't push ourselves now for a battle that won't happen for a long time, God willing."

"But I told you, we need to bring them down as fast as possible so other pokemon won't die!"

"We can't work that fast! If people could do that don't you think someone would have defeated Team Rocket by now?"

"Yeah, but..." It's as if Jacob is harshly knocking her back down to earth with every line.

"We will beat them, and you know we can't do it by ourselves."

"That's why you got me," said the new addition to the group.

"Thank you John, anyway, Heidi, stop doing this to your pokemon, and go apologize to them."

"But-"

"NOW."

Heidi walks silently over to her pokemon and begins to weep. Len and John are impressed at his ability to knock back some sense into a little girl who hardly understands. Her quick transformation from cheery little girl, to princess of nightmares, was about to be turned back around. Heidi comes within a foot of her pokemon who are now all standing around each other (save Hootie), and she collapses to her knees and starts wailing, "I'm so sorry all of you... I pushed you all too hard because of my anger," and almost immediately in forgiveness, her Eevee nuzzles her cheek with its nose, and licks her face. The other pokemon join in a group hug that lasts for a short while.

"What, the _hell_, was going on here?" John asks.

Jacob summarizes: "Cute girl with dark past relives it and goes through transformation to defeat cycle of her past, but I stopped it for the better."

Len replies with, "She was scary as hell though while you were gone. Where the hell did you get John by the way?"

"The cruise from Goldenrod stopped here to re-fuel to go back to Vermilion, but because I already found you guys I'm not going to bother getting back on-board," explains John.

"Oh... Okay. I assume you'll challenge Koga too?"

"I already have all but the final two Kanto badges, remember?"

"Right, why did you ever stop your league challenge early?"

"I had to go back home because my mom got sick, remember?"

"No. I don't." The conversation stopped there, and Heidi was still crying with her pokemon.

"Let's get something to eat," Jacob suggests.

"But what about Heidi?" Len sounded very concerned for her.

"She'll be back to normal in ten minutes, tops."

"What have I just got myself into?" John asks aloud as they all walk back inside the hotel, Heidi still wailing with her pokemon.


	23. Ch 23: Normal Days & Unusual Challenge

Chapter 23: Normal Days and a Horrific Challenge

"So are you done with your weirdo tantrum yet Heidi?" Jacob asked sarcastically over the breakfast table the next morning.

"Of course brother, that was simply a lack in judgment on my part because I didn't tak-"

"Haha, oh cuuuuute, she's trying to talk eloquently!" John liked to poke fun at her because of the recent events. HE didn't understand the magnitude of her troubles and nobody bothered to tell him because Heidi shook it off like a bad itch anyway.

"Shuddup! You're so mean to me!"

"Yeah, be nice to the little lady," Len tried to squeeze that sentence in before stuffing some bacon into his mouth.

"Why are you defending her Len?"

"Befuf Jacof, bein nife to girlf makes over girlf like you."

"Do you see any other girls around?" John said to the desperate soul.

"No..."

"It's okay Len, I still love you!"

"So what? You're twelve." Len shoved more bacon in his mouth.

"WWEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLL we should get going if we want to make it to Koga's gym before the registration stops." Jacob gets up to leave before everyone else.

"Not 'till I've finished my bacon!" John takes Len's last few slices as he shouts this at Jacob. It takes Len a second to notice his beloved meaty meal has disappeared. He turns, furious at John, "YOU BASTARD!" He jumps over the table and tackles him to the floor.

"Guys, please, stop fighting over me!"

"Don't flatter yourself Heidi, I wouldn't wanna date a psycho!" Another of John's jabs at her insanity from yesterday.

"U-um..." a cute waitress walks up to the two boys wrestling on the floor. "I-I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you keep doing that..."

"I apologize for my friends here, I'm sure they won't bring you much more trouble." Jacob gave her the money for the meal and led them out of the restaurant anyway.

They walked up to the gym before 10 AM, and they looked to be just opening registration for gym battles. They decided the gameplan before in the restaurant: Heidi will single battle, Len and Jacob will double battle, and John will watch because he has the Soul badge already. It looked as though they would be the only challengers at the gym today as well. Jacob picked up a packet and the rules were simple. First the pokemo- "Wait, what?... What is with these weird rules?... JOHN! Explain this."

"I don't know, I just had to fight an obstacle course based on agility and speed and if the pokemon didn't faint during that you battle Koga... Did you not know?"

"Obviously NOT!"

"This is some ridiculous bullshit."

"Len, your insight couldn't be more helpful."

"Shut up Jake."

The smaller high-pitched voice pops up, "We can do it. Or at least I can!" She winks and smiles at the two older challengers to the gym. "Good luck you two! I'm sure you'll need it!"

"Well what are we going to do Jacob?"

"I don't know, but I guess our pokemon will go through individually then if they both make it we double battle, otherwise this'll be a short day for one of us."

"It's a big obstacle course, so your pokemon needs stamina as well as agility, just so you guys know."

"Thanks John," Len says, "I think I'll use my Eevee for this one. He's a quick one. How about you Jacob?"

"I don't exactly know yet. I'll figure it out when I plant myself in front of the course."

They walk into the arena, and there is a big difference between this gym and Lt. Surge's. A giant course lined with razors, spike pits, and fire shooters led straight out to the area where the pokemon battles would take place. The gym was dark, and dank, and there was a constant fog about the stage. It was all eerie and gloomy.

"Alright, you there, you're first."

"M-me?" The two men dressed... pretty much like real ninjas, with masks , belts, tunics, and everything, were looking intensely at Jacob.

"Yes, you. Now select a pokemon to go through the course!"

"O-okay!" He fumbled around in his bag looking for a ball. The great ball holding Ivysaur? No, the pokeball holding Snorlax? Hell no. The-

Someone from the crowd yells, "He's making THAT run the obstacle course!?"

"What!? I didn't pick a-!" When Jacob had turned to look, Alexandra the Togepi had already passed the starting line. "WHAAAAAAAAAT ARE YOU DOING ALEXANDRA?!" The Togepi turned back and smiled at her trainer. She started waddling back towards him when the ground she was previously standing on suddenly gave way. The trap hole was missed out of sheer dumb luck. "Can I switch this out?" He asked the ninja-esque man.

"No, once it passes the starting line it has to continue throughout the entire course."

"Well shit..." He halted Alexandra to think for a few seconds. "Alright Alexandra! Just listen to everything I say and you'll do fine!" Alexandra trilled and started back to the course. There were few visible traps, such as obvious toxic spikes, a... flamethrower... and... Ursaring traps? "What kind of course is this?"

"Well if its anything like I remember it," John spoke up, "it's going to be very hard for Togepi to get through."

* * *

"That was nice of them, to throw us a party like that!"

"Well yeah but we don't really have any extra days to spend getting to Fuchsia."

"Stop being such a stick in the mud! We have all the time in the world to get to where we need to be!" Bill was confident they would get to Fuchsia before Jacob and friends left, but he didn't know they would have to stay an extra week anyway before Len was off the job at the Safari Zone.

"Well if they have to fight the fifth gym in Fuschia don't they have to go back to Saffron to battle Sabrina, the sixth gym leader?"

"Are you saying you don't want to go see the Safari Zone and its hundreds of extremely rare and unobtainable pokemon?" At the mention of rare and unobtainable pokemon Roy's ears perk up.

"Weeeelllllllll I guess it wouldn't be that bad to go to Fuschia-"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" Bill enthusiastically jumps up into the air.

"Maybe I can catch a Scizor…"

"You can catch anything short of Legendary pokemon in the Safari Zone!"

"Well that's good to know, I'm only interested in catching a few pokemon though."

"You gotta go out and catch 'em all!"

"Yeah, like that's possible." The two continue walking down route 12 when they notice something large up ahead. "Hey, do you know what that is?"

"You mean the thing blocking the path?"

"Yeah… What is that?"

"I dunno but it's gotta move sometime." The two unlucky trainers gaze up at the large Snorlax as it sleeps the day away smack in the middle of the road, blocking all sorts of traffic.


	24. Ch 24: Heidi's Battle

Chapter 24: Unlikely Circumstances and Heidi's Battle

Jacob took a few seconds to devise a strategy around the first few traps, and was surprised as Alexandra took orders and was able to dodge the first spike pit. This newfound confidence in his pokemon was cut short though, when Alexandra veered off the ordered course to look at something shiny, which happened to be the tip of a dart blower. "MOVE ALEXANDRA!" Jacob screamed, and almost as if she knew what would happen, Alexandra hopped up over the dart coming out of the end of the tube. "Jeez, this thing is giving me panic attacks..."

The next few obstacles were a bit tougher, as Alexandra had to fight her way through a few flamethrowers and a narrow passage before making it to the next area. Alexandra waddled a bit further before stopping before a large, and seemingly bottomless, pit with a rope hanging over the edge. Knowing this task would be impossible for Togepi, Jacob went on a whim with his next command. "Alexandra," he shouted, "Use metronome, and whatever it is try to use it to get over the-" he stopped himself when he saw the Togepi bounce high into the air, barely missing the ceiling of the gym, and falling back down on the other side of the pit, only to land on a pressure plate which triggered more poison darts to come flying at her. "JUMP! JUMP!" shouted a very frightened Jacob, as Alexandra jumped high enough over the first dart, but was scratched by the second dart that came flying past her. The tough little Togepi shook it off as nothing more than a small mishap and soldiered on.

"Move left! Now right! Duck then slide left!" Alexandra took in all these commands like water and flawlessly did what Jacob commanded, even if he was only thinking how it should be done. She leapt over more pits, ducked under the jaws of a hanging trap, and sidestepped various other obstacles before finally reaching the final stretch.

"Okay Alexandra. Use metronome one more time!" The Togepi shook its small hands and as they began to glow white, she started to puff up and become slightly larger, she opened her mouth and down the long narrow passageway let out a large fire blast that melted all the pressure plates and set off other various triggers for the final traps. Seeing complete chaos unleash in front of it, the ever so wise Togepi decided to waddle straight down the middle of the path as the final traps were still going off. It knew it had to finish before it succumbed to the poison it had gotten from the dart before, and it was just a small matter of time before it collapsed.

"Alexandra! What are you doing!? Wait a second!" It ignored its orders and soldiered on as the effects of its fire blast were dying off and traps surrounding it fired their last dart or bit of gasoline before sputtering out. She continued pushing, and pushing to move forward, and as it continued to push it began to glow once again, this time, not from the wiggling of its hands. Alexandra the Togepi continued to walk on through the pain of the poison, through the pain of jumping over trap after trap, through the fire and the flames, and through its own evolution, the Togetic carried on to stumble across the finish line. It was still standing and was naturally cured purely though its own will to continue the challenge for its trainer. Alexandra truly loved her owner.

* * *

Leonard's Eevee made it through the labyrinth of traps no problem, and Heidi's Noctowl had an equally easier time. The first battle of the day was to be Heidi's Noctowl vs. Koga's Muk, his most powerful pokemon. Clearly he knew a challenger when he saw one. After that was Togetic and Eevee vs. his Crobat and Tentacruel. Heidi looked ready enough as Hootie the Noctowl took the stage across from Koga and his Muk... It was silly to look at, really. A grown man skilled in every art that can kill a man in less than a second, battling a twelve year old girl in a neon-green hoodie and shorts who just recently went psycho because she relived her dark past. This should be a great match.

"Go hootie! Use Hypnosis!"

"Ha, you think that'll work on my pokemon?"

The purple beams of light emanating from the Noctowl's eyes nearly reached the Muk when it dissolved into itself, slid across the ground underneath the flying bird, and jumped up from the ground. It spewed poison at it at extremely close range and critically wounded the Noctowl. The Noctowl flew higher into the sky and regained its balance higher than the Muk could reach but was visibly hurt. The Noctowl dive-bombed straight at the amorphous blob and it quickly jetted itself out of the way. The Noctowl re-aligned itself and bore its beak into the purple blob, but whether it did much damage or not was unable to be seen. It continued to slip and slide around along the ground while dodging all other attempts at attacks from the airborne foe. The Muk jetted itself up from the ground once more, trying to hit the Noctowl with a giant ball of slime, or gunk if you would call it that, and as the Muk flew towards its target Heidi strategically gave the signal: "Hypnosis, NOW!"

It was a great call knowing that it wouldn't be able to dodge in mid-air, and now the poisonous pokemon would be incapacitated for a few minutes so Heidi could land a few more attacks. The Noctowl continuously used long-range attacks such as Confusion, Ominous Wind (how Heidi got it to learn that the other trainers will never know) and Air Cutter, eventually hacking away at the now physically depleted Muk. As it awoke it found itself in a horrible situation that it quite possibly can't escape from. The Noctowl started to glow a bright color as it prepared another attack, a more powerful one, one that Koga knew would finish his Muk if he didn't take action.

He couldn't run because his Muk had become too slow, but he also couldn't stand there and take the attack head on. Muk launched a giant wave of poisonous liquid from its body, at the hopes that the Sky Attack would be interrupted. As the wave of purple filth made contact with the Noctowl, it charged straight through the sludge , clearing a direct path at the now horribly frightened pokemon. Noctowl's shining beak made contact and caused a large explosion at the point of impact. The Muk was unbelievably finished, as the Noctowl flew victoriously around the arena. Heidi miraculously won her battle, and Koga, in disappointment, allowed his next challengers to come to the battlefield.

"Yay! Woohoo! Wahoo! We are so great!"

"Alright, that's enough bragging Heidi. Watch us win our bout then we can all cheer."

"Haha, okay, sure. Winning that was a lot harder than it looked you know! And you're using a weakened Togetic!"

"I'm sure Eevee will pick up the slack where I can't, right Len?"

"Huh, oh, yeah, probably."

"I don't like the sound of that..."

"You're not supposed to."

"How are we friends again?"

"You dumbass."

The two friends chuckled to each other as the demon they faced stared them down from across the stage.

"Crobat, Tentacruel. Destroy them."


	25. Ch 25: Another Unlikely Victory

Chapter 25 Another Unlikely Victory and a Very Late Entry

Crobat and Tentacruel started moving towards Eevee and Alexandra quickly. Tentacruel fires a few blasts of Water Gun while Crobat moves in towards the Togetic to fire a Confuse Ray. The Water Guns miss as the Eevee dodges them and Togetic takes flight. The confuse ray doesn't score a direct hit as well and an aerial battle ensues between the Normal and Poison Flying-types. On the ground the Tentacruel moves in close and tries multiple times to Poison Jab its opponent but can't score a single hit as the Eevee dodges and moves gracefully between each tentacle. It charges at the Tentacruel with a Double-Edge, and makes direct contact with its black stomach, forcing it to keel over in pain, opening itself up for a Take Down, which knocks it over and causes it to tumble a few feet.

Meanwhile in the air, Air Cutters are flying back and forth trying to make contact with either foe. Crobat charges in for a wing-attack and gets a glancing blow as the Togetic drops a few feet in the air because it stopped beating its wings. Alexandra decides to use Metronome at this opportunity, hoping to attain the power of a Hyper Beam or Thunder at close range, but as the move is about to be released, the Crobat charges in for an Ice-fang. At the last second as the Metronome fades away, Togetic easily rolls out of the way and dodges, Crobat tries a few more fang attacks but can't land a single blow as the Agility that came from the Metronome made Alexandra so much faster. It used Body Slam as it came close to the Crobat again and scored a solid blow.

Back on the ground the Tentacruel had used Sludge Bomb against Eevee which landed on the ground at its feet, causing the Eevee to be unable to move. This lets the Tentacruel set up for a close range, and powerful Hydro Pump. All efforts to escape the poisonous goo were useless as the Tentacruel charged forward. It stopped hardly a foot away and began to launch a gigantic beam of water at the trapped Normal type. After a few seconds of the terror that was the close ranged water-attack, a black disc pierced the Hydro Pump where the Eevee was standing, causing the Tentacruel to stagger backwards. The mass that was Eevee quickly dashed behind the staggering Tentacruel and used Payback as its opponent fell onto it. The powerful revenge-type move did exponential amounts of damage considering the damage Eevee took from the Hydro Pump. The Dark type move surprised all watching as Eevee doesn't naturally learn that move, then again it wasn't an Eevee using it.

Neither Flying pokemon could land a single blow against each other now that Alexandra had gained the power of Agility and Crobat was naturally just as fast. Ancient Powers from Togetic hadn't landed once while the fangs of the Crobat got closer and closer with each attempt. The new plan was to have Crobat come in as close as possible and hit it full on with the Rock-type move that was sure to make Togetic more powerful. The Crobat dashed in for an ice fang and missed closely as Alexandra barrel-rolled out of the way, but Crobat turned and caught its leg in its teeth with a regular bite attack. This was the chance Alexandra was looking for as at this moment rocks came flying upwards from the ground hitting Crobat's stomach and wings all at once. The Ancient Power had done massive amounts of damage considering the range at which it was used, and Alexandra was powered up from using that move. It became faster than its opponent and it seemed like the next hit it landed would be the last.

Tentacruel, now nearly done in by the Payback attack, was just as surprised as the rest of the crowd when the smoke cleared and there was no Eevee on the field, but an Umbreon that was being commanded by Leonard. It was faster than the Eevee from before and clearly more powerful, and still had a lot of energy left to fight, while the Tentacruel had nearly run out of energy. The Umberon tried to use Bite a few times before resorting to using Faint Attack, which was unavoidable as the Tentacruel walked into its feint and was hit hard. The Tentacruel knew it was defeated and gave in to the clearly superior Umbreon which stood over it with pride. It now turned its attention to the ceiling to see how its partner was faring.

Although critically weakened the Crobat was still able to barely dodge any and all attacks, scoring small glancing blows as the Togetic flew past. Noticing the battle on the ground was finished, Alexandra decided to dip down low to the ground, but the Crobat wouldn't take the bait. Togetic decided to use Roost on the ground near its partner as it went from two solo battles to a two-on-one with no escape for the Crobat and the refreshed Togetic. A red beam hit the Crobat as Koga had returned it to its ball, as well as the Tentacruel. "Thank you for a great battle," said the voice from across the room.

"Thanks Koga, for helping Eevee finally evolve!" Len smiled and laughed happily.

"You two had a great battle, but you don't understand the dynamics of a true double battle just yet. You have to work together, not just take one opponent each and hope the other wins." Jacob didn't have the heart to tell him that he and the little girl who defeated him before actually successfully double battled versus the Electric Gym Leader, even sacrificing his Munchlax for the victory of the two of them.

Jacob leans over to Len and whispers, "Yeah, we should probably work on that."

"Don't worry about it."

A few minutes later during the "Ceremony" of giving the victorious trainers their prizes, a man slams the front doors wide open and starts shouting, "Hold on just one minute Koga!" Everyone looks towards the new voice.

"You missed the battles. Come back tomorrow."

"You know I'm not here for that!"

"I know exactly what you're here for and my answer is no."

"Giovanni says he needs a guy like you to watch his back!"

"I said I'm not going back to that organization."

"Fine, I was told to do this as a last resort but I'll get a hefty pay raise with this!" He pulls out a remote control and presses a button on it. The ground starts shaking while everybody starts to panic and run out the fire doors, within a few minutes the only people within the gym are Koga, his referee, a few of his ninja disciples, and Jacob's group.

Koga turns to Jacob and Company and says, "Stay perfectly still. Don't move until I tell you to." The ground stops shaking for a moment as the ceiling of the building is lifted off of the support beams and foundation of the gym, while a dozen Rocket members come down on ropes whipping out pokeballs revealing Psychic and Ground type pokemon to combat Koga's poison types. Koga turns to his disciples and says but one word:

"Now."


	26. Ch 26: The Big Bad Snorlax

Chapter 26: The Big Bad Snorlax and New Moves?

The Snorlax blocking Roy and Bill's path was far larger than any other Snorlax they've seen before.

"Maybe it's some kinda guru Snorlax that all other Snorlax train under to better themselves in the way of the-"

"You're just running on fumes with the jokes now…"

"I tried didn't I? Well anyway this is a serious predicament. Could we attack it?"

"A thing that size will either not feel a thing or will seriously destroy us."

"You're right about that…" The two continue to ponder about the current situation and can't come to a single good conclusion between the two that wouldn't risk their lives. A ladder to go over was okay as long as it didn't roll over on top of them, using a pokemon to burrow underneath would also be a bad idea because the Snorlax would cave in the tunnel, One side of the path is a sheer 60 foot cliff, and the other side is the rough waters of the ocean. Attacking it would either lead to the battle of their lives or it would do absolutely nothing.

"I GOT NOTHING!" Bill said exasperatedly as he falls onto his back. "Let's just set up camp here for now and wait. He's gotta get up to eat, doesn't he?"

"Yeah… I'm mad I didn't think that! We'll just wait!"

"But who knows how long that'll take…"

"The journey is about how you get to your destination, right?" Roy threw back Bill's own words back at him sarcastically.

"Well yes that's correct but this is such an inconvenience!" He started flailing his arms into the air out of despair.

"Well let's just wait awhi-" The ground started to move and rumble underneath their feet. It wasn't violent but the shaking was noticeable enough that the two trainers silenced themselves and listened for anything. "Is the Snorlax getting up?" Roy asked nobody quietly. The rumbling continued for only a few moments more, then suddenly stopped.

"I wonder what that was…"

"It was… odd to say the least…" They look at each other somewhat confused for a moment before the ground starts shaking again. This time the giant Snorlax next to them was getting up, and taking its sweet-old time in doing so, first stretching its arms and legs, then rolling to each of its sides to scratch parts of its back, then finally sitting upright. It turned towards the two trainers and let out a large belch.

"Oh man, has someone ever told you to brush your teeth?" Bill's jab doesn't go far against the half-awake pokemon, now trying its hardest to stand up. It easily outclassed any other Snorlax, being 5 feet taller than the average Snorlax, and twice the size. It started to stumble forward, towards the two trainers, and fell flat on its face in doing so. After a hearty round of laughter from the duo at the clumsiness of the pokemon, the Snorlax quickly became angry and started stamping the ground ferociously. It wore an ugly frown as it assumed the rumbling was the direct cause of waking it up, and it surmised that these two standing before him were the ones that caused it. Noticing its fiery attitude and willingness to fight, Torchie and the Ninetales with many flattering nicknames were released in order to defend the innocent trainers.

The giant Snorlax started to roll at its foes using its rollout attack, narrowly missing each pokemon. It was a lot faster than it looked and most likely two times as powerful as any other Snorlax. Getting hit by this monstrosity was definitely not an option. It jumped into the air and at this moment the Blaziken leaped straight up at its chin firing a Sky Uppercut right to the face. Although Fighting is super effective against normal type, this Snorlax seemed to hardly feel it as it landed a Mega Punch square in Blaziken's chest in midair. Torchie flew at least 100 yards before hitting the ground and rolling another 50.

Ninetales went into action, firing a few embers and a flamethrower at the Snorlax. This also did minimal damage as the Snorlax fell back down and shook the ground with a giant rumble. The Snorlax countered with a Body Slam attack, but was much too slow to come close to entrapping the Fire-type beneath itself. Ninetales threw a few Will-o-wisps at the Snorlax, each causing some minimal burns. It took a while for the Snorlax to stand back up, and in that time Torchie was able to finally come back into the fray.

It fired a powerful Overheat attack at the giant foe, which hardly seemed to do anything to it, thus forcing Torchie to use more physical attacks. Getting close was dangerous because while Ninetales was launching Flamethrowers and Fire Blasts from long-distance, the giant Snorlax would occasionally dodge and counterattack with powerful moves of its own. Mega Punches were nearly deadly, and a Body Slam would effectively end either pokemon. The Blaziken attempted a Mega Kick of its own but was bounced away by the enormous amount of fat used to protect the pokemon. An attempt at anything physical was as turned away as Ninetales' special attacks, but they had to do something.

_"Try using Low Kick Torchie."_

_"But I haven't learned that yet, I don't know how to do it!"_

_"It's easy if you think about it, just use Blaze Kick but instead of a straight on kick, you use a sweeping motion from behind its feet."_

_"I don't know if I can but I will try…"_

The new improvised plan was put into effect shortly after the small conversation. Torchie ran up to the Snorlax and attempted a Thunderpunch as a feint, but as the Snorlax reacted to protect its face from the punch, Torchie didn't jump upwards but instead slid to its side and kicked out its right leg from underneath it in a fiery blaze. The Blaze Low Kick has just been invented, it seems, by Roy and his pokemon, something that is at the very least unusual. The Snorlax fell flat on its back in pain, but at least it was now out of the way of the path. It didn't seem to want to get back up, and instead fell back asleep.

"What the hell was that you just did?!"

"I told Torchie that Low Kick was like Blaze Kick but with a sweeping motion and I guess he combined the two?"

"Well that was certainly interesting… Now before that Snorlax gets back up we should get moving!"

"Oh jeez, you're right about that!" The two grab their camping equipment, Roy handing some to Torchie to carry, and the trainers as well as their pokemon dashed down route 12, before anything else would impede them on their trip.


	27. Ch 27: Swift Defeat & Turn of Events

Chapter 27: A Swift Defeat and Terrible Turns of Events

"Now"

The ninjas went into action quickly pinning the Rocket to the wall with kunai, then smashing through windows to the outside to throw shuriken up at the helicopter, which was releasing Rocket members down into the poison gym. Precise throws by the ninja cut seven of the eight ropes lowering Rocket agents, causing them to come crashing down into various parts of the gym. Heidi started to jump and wanted to run out the building but Koga held her back, saying, "The safest spot in Fuchsia right now is next to me. Don't move."

Next the ninjas released their own pokemon themselves, a Skuntank, Drapion, Venasaur, Scolipede, and Nidoking took the field. Venasaur targeted the ground types by launching several Razor Leaf attacks, and even lifted Hippowdon using Vine Whip, throwing him across the stadium. Skuntank and Drapion used Bug, Dark, and several other types of attacks against the various Psychic type pokemon released around the gym. The Poison types didn't give the Psychic types a chance to think, like this was a built in routine for the pokemon.

Meanwhile, watching all of this, Jacob and company couldn't even follow what was going on because the ninjas and their pokemon were moving so fast. Jacob felt that if Koga himself got involved, it would have all been over by now, and it's only been less than two minutes! The ninjas were moving so fast not even Heidi could follow one of their movements, and it was ridiculous how fast their own pokemon were moving. Every movement happened in a flash and flurry of motion, extremely smooth, well performed, and dangerously effective, as every hit left no opportunity for retaliation. All pokemon had fainted, save the poison types, and the Rockets were effectively defeated without anything major happening… except for the roof being torn off the building.

The helicopter overhead got news of the swift defeat and released the roof back down onto the building, causing it to collapse in on itself over the trainers still inside. The poison types reacted instinctively and unleashed another flurry of attacks at the debris falling down upon them, eventually ending in dust clouds falling on everyone. Before the dust was even able to settle the ninjas tied up the offending Rocket members and sat them in the middle of the broken down gym. The police arrived before the helicopter was able to leave, forcing it to make an escape at the last second, completely and utterly defeated.

* * *

"Heidi doesn't seem to be as bad as she was after the last time a Rocket attack happened."

"You seem pretty fine yourself too big Bro."

"I told you Koga was aweosme."

"No you didn't John…" Len smacked him upside the head at this blatant lie.

"You four are lucky you were with me at the time of the attack," Koga had walked out of the gym, or what remains of it, after talking to several members of the police force about the Rocket members. It was late afternoon when the attack started, and from finish to end was possibly only five minutes. Jacob, Heidi, John, and Len had to wait around for an extra few hours because they were direct witnesses to the attack. "If you had been anywhere else I could imagine that at least one of your pokemon would have been stolen."

"Actually Mr. Koga," Heidi, oh Lord what could she possibly want to say, Jacob thought, "in the attack at Celadon me, my big bro, and Lady Erika fought off the Rockets just fine!"

"Well that's extremely surprising. I had heard that two trainers challenging the gym helped to defeat and capture one of the Rockets. I never would have thought you two were those trainers."

"Speaking of which," this time Len spoke up, "That guy said something a little odd before, what did he mean when he said-"

"I used to be a leader in the Rocket organization." There was a collective gasp from the small band of trainers. "He came back because he wanted me to re-join Giovanni in his schemes."

"What exactly are they planning?" Jacob asked.

"If it's anything like before, they are planning to take the DNA of every pokemon known to man to create the ultimate pokemon to further their goals for global domination."

"Didn't they already fail when they attempted to create Mewtwo?"

"They did, that was because they felt they gave it too much free thought, too much of its own will. They are most likely going to create a new one that they can control directly, somewhat like a robot. Or at least if they took my advice they would have done that to begin with…"

A silence descended on the small group. They could only hear the murmuring of cops in the background talking about the recent news. Koga quickly broke it with an explanation of the attack. "After they failed that button he pressed obviously did something somewhere, but what I'm not entirely sure. But what happened after that can easily be explained by my perception in knowing that they would eventually come back for me, and how I trained my ninja disciples to counterattack in that manner should anything happen."

"That explains it really well," John spoke up this time. "But what did you mean by-"

"Wha-what is that!?" A cop looked out over the ocean in the direction of Cinnabar Island, where a giant plume of grey and black smoke was seen being released into the atmosphere.

"What!?" Koga flew into action, running to the nearest television store, which happened to be conveniently a short bit down the road, and told the man working to tune every television in the display windows to the Cinnabar News Network. There was no need because in the middle of the Breaking News report taking place in Fuchsia, the program was cut by another Breaking news: the Volcano on Cinnabar, which was believed to have been dormant, has erupted. Details of the situation on the Island were unknown but it is believed Blaine and his Fire-type pokemon were doing their best to make sure everyone got off of the island in time. Before the other four could reach the televisions, Heidi's small cell phone started to ring.

"Wait," Jacob said, "You have a cell phone?"

"Yeah, my mommy and daddy bought it for me in case of emer… gen… cies…" Heidi panicked and flipped the phone open now realizing where that plume of smoke was coming from. "HELLO? PAPA!? MAMA!?"

"Heidi! Don't worry! Just tell me where you are right now!" The voice through the cell phone was masculine, and extremely frightened.

"Oh daddy!"

"Hush Heidi! Tell me where you are! I'll come to you as fast as possible!"

"I-I'm in Fuchsia City."

"Ok, I'll see you there soon, don't leave the city until I get there."

"Daddy? Daddy! Where's mommy!?" The phone was already dead when she had finished asking.


	28. Ch 28: The Entire World Shook that Day

Chapter 28:The Entire World Shook that Day

It was any ordinary day on the island. The pokemon were flying and scurrying about, the trees were as green as ever, and the tropical spring weather made it feel great to be alive. An older man was walking in the vicinity of the local Gym, the pride and joy of the island, next to the research center built to reanimate pokemon fossils. The man had a bald head, round sunglasses, and a small grey beard on his chin. Nobody would be able to guess from a single glance that this man was the Leader of the Gym he was taking a leisurely stroll around. Fire type pokemon were always and forever will be his favorites, Magmortar being his best and most loyal pokemon.

"Ah, Linda, what brings you here?" His voice, somewhat gruff and of a higher pitch, was directed at a woman approaching him.

"Oh dad, you know I'm here to visit my pokemon!" The older man was talking to a woman of about 30, obviously his daughter, who also fell in love with fire types (she insists it wasn't her father's doing). She had long black hair and big blue eyes, a small and slender body, and the grace of a swimming Lapras; a true beauty if anyone were to ever see one.

"Typhlosion and its children should be in the back room, you know where to find them."

"Of course, they are my pride and joys!" The two share a laugh before the woman goes around back to the back door of the Gym and lets herself in. The Gym was right at the base of the Volcano, which was also somewhat connected to the inner core of the mountain, which is where Blaine's gym's battlefield was. Although dangerously over lava he always has pokemon on guard to keep the lava in check, and make sure pokemon don't fall in. Slugma and Macargo loved being in and around the Volcano.

He had also taken more physical precautions, such as having an Emboar always at the ready to activate the infinitely durable and extremely hard to obtain two feet thick steel doors that would block the entrance to the battlefield from the rest of the Gym. The pokemon inside, being always Slugma and Macargo, were sure to survive an eruption, even though the volcano had been dormant for some time. He always thought though that you can never be too careful, a lesson learned from handling one of the most dangerous types to humans.

"Magmortar, how are you feeling today?" His best friend smiled and nodded indicating it was doing perfectly well.

"How are you liking the warmer weather?" Much like the last response, it was the same nod and smile.

"How's your special lady friend I introduced to you?" Blaine gave a small wink to his favorite pokemon as it blushed and rubbed the back of its head. The Magmar the Magmortar had recently come to love each other had had an egg earlier that day.

"I'll make sure the egg stays safe, don't you worry about that!"

The Magmortar smiled and smacked the back of his old best friend. "OW! Not so rough buddy! You know I'm becoming more fragile every day!" The two laughed as Blaine continued his rounds. Chimchar was playing with the Litwick and the Charmander while Volcarona was flying above the Volcano, circling it with Charizard. Everything today was as normal as could possibly be.

Until the ground started to rumble, and a black ash started to ascend from the mouth of the volcano. Seeing this start to happen Blaine ran inside his gym and pressed the emergency button, signaling his Emboar to seal the door and alerting the authorities everywhere on the island that the Volcano was starting to act up. Knowing not to question the oldest and wisest man on the island, the police and fire department immediately went into action, driving about the city announcing an immediate evacuation.

"Father," the woman from before ran into the lobby holding four pokeballs, her Typhlosion, its husband, and its two Cyndaquil, "Father what's going on!?"

"The volcano is starting to act up a bit, its safest to get everyone off the island. Start rounding up the pokemon! Tell your husband to leave now! We can't have anything happening to the both of you!"

"Yes daddy!" The woman ran to the nearest telephone and dialed her husband's cell phone. "Hello, Nick?! Hurry up and get off the island! Forget about me for now, just go! Go find our daughter!"

"Ok honey, I'll call you when I find out where she is. Just promise me you'll be safe and come out of this okay."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too. Don't do anything stupid."

She ran to the back to start taking care of Blaine's pokemon

A special team of Rangers dedicated to protecting the wild and stray pokemon went into action as well, going around to every known nest on the island, making sure for the wilds to follow them to specialized boats to house a few dozen pokemon family each.

The pokemon in Blaine's gym were returned to their balls extremely quickly; all 60 were accounted for, not including Blaine's personal team of Volcarona, Magmortar, Charizard, Chandelure, Arcanine, and Camerupt. The Volcarona and Charizard were flying around the island, trained on what to do in a situation like this, making sure there were no riots and that everyone was evacuating safely. Arcanine ran around the island helping the Rangers, and convincing the pokemon there to go with them. Camerupt and Chandelure were at the docks making sure people went on the boats and left safely, whether they be personal boats, or the evacuation boats. Magmortar stood by Blaine's side as lava started to spew out of the mountain.

As rocks and molten steel came flying out of the volcano, Blaine commanded that it take aim with its cannon-like arm, and fired one huge Hyper Beam to annihilate the debris.

_"Blaine, after this is done, make sure mine and Magmar's egg leaves the island safely."_

_"Don't worry buddy, Linda and her husband will take care of that."_

_"Thank you friend."_

The two of them continued to fire at the rocks and spewing lava until Magmortar was almost drained of power. Suddenly Volcarona and Charizard appeared overhead, saying something in their pokemon language, Magmortar translated.

_"'Everyone and their pokemon has gotten to the boats safely,' they say."_

_"Good, now tell them to tell Camerupt and Chandelure to each board a different evac boat, they are to do the same."_

_"I shall." _Magmortar called out to them with their instructions, they obeyed just as with any other command Blaine would give. Soon enough Arcanine came and told them the same thing, about the pokemon of the island. The plan for evacuation was going smoothly.

"Thanks Arcanine, now you make sure Linda gets on the family boat with that Magby egg and leaves safely."

Through Magmortar's translation: _"But what about you master?"_

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, Magmortar and I are going to make sure the island isn't completely destroyed."

The Arcanine nodded and ran off to protect Blaine's precious daughter and Magmortar's precious child.

_"We are fighting a volcano you know."_

_"Yes we are Magmortar… Are you hesitant to do so?"_

_"Not at all as long as you give the command, best friend."_

The volcano started spewing lava at exponential rates it was traveling down the mountain quickly, burning all things in its path. The lava had already reached the Gym when Blaine stopped in the middle of the city to give Magmortar more commands. It fired one more Hyper Beam out of its cannon-like arm before having to resort to lava vs. lava methods. Lava Plumes possibly 30 feet high came out of the ground at command, stopping the lava from advancing any further in its tracks. This was only temporary as more lava came around the giant plumes created by Magmortar.

It used its own eruption attack at the oncoming stream of lava, coming closer to the middle of town where Blaine stood. The lava was hardly slowing down and it was forcing the two into a corner. They retreated to the docks where his daughter and Arcanine had been, waiting for him.

"Do you have the egg?" Blaine seemed to command an answer with the intensity of this question.

"Yes dad! Now hurry up and get on!"

"Make sure you tell my granddaughter that I'm leaving that Magby in her care."

"What are you talking about dad? Get on! We have no more time!" The lava was approaching the docks quickly. There was nowhere else to turn.

"I love you Linda. Make sure to tell your daughter I love her just as much."

"Dad! Wha-"

"Fire Blast Arcanine." The Arcanine, understanding what was going on, shed a few tears as it obeyed its final command and jetted the boat out into the ocean with his owner's daughter and the ever important egg on board.

"I was born on this island Magmortar."

_"As was I."_

"We spent many years growing up together here."

_"That we did Blaine."_

"Our children were created and born here."

_"I-… I will never be able to see my child….."_

"I'm sorry old friend, we know that this is the only possible way to stop this."

_"I know, I'm sorry. I know what must be done. We've discussed this before."_

"And now… are you ready?"

_"Yes. Lets save Cinnabar."_

"Not just Cinnabar, we are rescuing all of Kanto…

"Earthquake." At the command the Magmortar walked onto the last few bits of solid land there was and stamped as hard as possible. The entire ground shook again, the earth started to split, the lava started to fall in between crevasses throughout the island. The volcano itself violently shook and was split in two, causing more and more lava to pour out the sides, engulfing the entirety of the island, save where Magmortar and Blaine are.

"Let's do this together buddy." Blaine had jumped on the back of his larger, but shorter friend.

_"For Magmar."_

"For Heidi…." Blaine, knowing there was no other way commanded his best friend, "Dynamicpunch."

His cannon-arm jettisoned straight at the ground, causing what felt like the entire world to shake extremely violently. This propelled Blaine and Magmortar to fly up at an angle that would send them straight into the volcano. They both rose up, and fell back down to earth, back down into the cone of the volcano, down past where his battle area used to be, down past his Slugma and Macargo, down further and further through the ash and poisonous gasses until he gave one last command.

"Return"

Magmortar started to glow white, as bright as any flash could ever become, and released a giant beam of light straight down into the bowels of the very earth itself, disintegrating the lava, the rocks, and the dust in its path straight into the earth's mantle, causing the ash to stop rising, causing the earth to stop shaking, and quieting the island once more.


	29. Ch 29: Reunions

Chapter 29 Reunions

It was only a few hours later, around the time the sun would set, but citizens of Kanto as far as Saffron City now couldn't possibly tell what time of the day it was, because of all the ash in the sky, that a Speed Boat with the name "S.S. Charizard" was docked on the beaches along route 19, just south of Fuchsia. A man with short brown hair, rectangle-rimmed glasses, khakis, dress shoes, and a white button-up shirt that were all ashen because of the eruption ran up the docks and the one mile towards Fuchsia. He reached the city within minutes, dangerously out of breath, only to collapse on the ground. The man was still conscious, but extremely winded. A boy of about 17 approached him, "Hey, sir, are you okay?"

"Y-yes. I just need to f-find my daughter." The 17 year old boy with short black hair noticed the resemblance between this man and a certain girl he knew.

"Is your daughter's name Heidi?"

"Yes! Yes! Do you kno-" he coughs violently for a few seconds before sitting upright where he lay, "know where she is?"

"Yeah, we are all staying in this hotel, it's just this way." Jacob led Heidi's father towards the hotel he and his friends were all staying at. It was only maybe another mile walk from where they were.

"So how do you know Heidi?" Asked the older man.

"Long story short I almost hurt her Eevee so I had to help her win the Thunderbadge. Then Rocket rose up and she stayed under my wing."

"Thank you so much for protecting her for all this time."

"It's no problem, she's been a pleasure, and a bit of a demon really." He lets out an awkward laugh.

"How close have you gotten?"

An odd question he thought, "I guess you could say she sees me as her older brother."

"… Has she told you about Lavender Town?"

"Yes, she did."

"Then she must really trust you. You, me, and her mother are the only people that know of that."

"Speaking of which, where is her mother?"

"She…. she… She's helping her father make sure everyone gets off the island."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll come back okay."

"Knowing her fiery spirit she'll probably keep fighting until the last bit of the island is covered in lava."

"Who's her father?"

"Blaine, the Gym Leader. He used to be such a scary father-in-law, but he eased up to me after about 15 years."

"Why didn't you help everyone get off too, with your wife?"

"Because if something were to happen to us Heidi would have nothing left. I wouldn't want to have my daughter alone and afraid in the world…" The two continued walking to the hotel, where Heidi and the others, as well as Koga and his ninjas were in the lobby. They were there because the gym, their home, was destroyed in the recent attack.

"Heidi!"

"Daddy!" Their reunion was one to cry over if you were watching the scene like a movie, many hugs and laughs were had together.

"Daddy, where's mommy?"

"She was helping grandpa help people off the island. You know how your mother is."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"You know grandpa would never let anything happen to her!"

"… Is grandpa gonna be okay?"

"Do you really think grandpa and Magmortar are gonna let a volcano stop them?" Her father's voice was getting a bit shaky.

"Haha! You're right! They're probably on their way here now!"

Heidi's father started to tear up. "Yeah, she's probably safe and headed somewhere like Pallet Town or the Orange Islands now."

"Does mommy know you're here?"

"No, she.. she was too busy helping grandpa. But it's okay! She'll call us when she gets somewhere sa-" the man's cell phone started to ring. Everyone in the room jumped up of surprise and Heidi's father went into a state of shock when he saw the caller ID. He opened his phone and started sobbing, "Oh my God Linda I'm so glad you're okay!"

The voice on the other side couldn't be heard by the onlookers but Heidi knew it was her mother, and hugged her father tightly. Her mother said while sobbing, "Oh Nick, something horrible happened!"

"What? What is it!?"

"My dad… dad…"

"Hello? Linda!? What happened?!"

"Father couldn't make it on a boat in time…"

"Oh, oh my… Honey, come to Fuchsia, Heidi is here, and she's safe-" Heidi grabs the phone from her dad.

"Mommy! Mommy! Are you okay?"

"Oh Heidi I'm so glad you're safe! Are you doing well?"

"Yes mommy! Are you coming to Fuchsia City?"

"…. yes, I'm on my way now. Don't worry, just stay with daddy for now."

"Hurry mommy, I wanna make sure you're okay!"

"Hahaha, that's my little girl. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

The line clicked dead. Heidi was very happy knowing her family was okay, but her father had to be the one to ruin the temporary happiness. It was the only thing to do because nobody would be able to hide the fact that Blaine, the famous Fire-type Gym Leader, had died protecting the people and pokemon that he loved. Every news station would show it, all radio stations would say something, the Pokemon League would make a statement, so Heidi had to be the first to hear it.

"Heidi… your momma told me something…"

"What is it daddy?" She started to frown as her dad shed more tears.

"Grandpa, was too busy helping all the people and pokemon escape from the volcano… and he wasn't able to get on a boat in time…" Heidi leaned into her father and started to weep. "He fought until the end to protect the people and pokemon he loved…" There were no more possible consoling words that would make Heidi feel any better, knowing that Team Rocket had also taken away her grandfather, Blaine.


	30. Ch 30: A Different View

Chapter 30 A Different View

"Whoa, Roy, look at those clouds!"

"Do you think it has anything to do with that rumbling we heard- well, felt, earlier?"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess I would say yes." The two were rounding the road from route 12 to route 13, still ways away from Fuchsia City. It was at least another 10 hour hike from where they were now, and considering it was nearly nightfall.. or something resembling it, they knew they'd get to the city by tomorrow. They didn't pass many people on route 12 considering most of it was docks and bridges over the water, and route 13 proved to be just as barren.

"Where is everyone!?" Bill asked exasperatedly, hoping someone in the distance would answer.

"Probably somewhere safer than where we are now. We haven't even seen a single pokemon since that rumbling happened too." The two continued down the barren route 13 for another hour or so. The dark dust in the sky continued to spread over most of the Kanto region now, and was dropping soot along the way. They were finally able to spy a building in the distance; a small one, possibly a barn-house type of building, hopefully with a home with people nearby. "Look," Roy pointed out, "I see a building. Let's go take refuge there."

"Yeah, we definitely should, I now know well enough what Fallarbor town is like, now let's just get out of this soot before we have enough ash collected on ourselves to make a glass table."

"Two Hoenn jokes in one?"

"Most people probably wouldn't have gotten the second one even when coupled with the first!" Roy and Bill shared a laugh and made it to the barn within minutes. There was no house around it so they assumed it to be abandoned, or possibly housing some other people and pokemon from the ash. They opened the door, surprised to see an older man with his Mankey watching a television in the back corner of the barn. It hadn't been used as a barn for at least a few years the two trainers could gather, as this man had made it his home. The older Mankey, now detecting the intruders, wildly jumped up, frightening his owner, and causing him to fall off of his stool.

"Agh! Ah, who's there? Who's making Mankey go crazy?" The man turned, looking to be about in his 60s or 70s, with a bald head, a long white beard down to the middle of his chest, with skinny arms and legs. He wore a baseball cap, a flannel shirt, and working jeans. He looked like a beggar, if you didn't notice his television, and kitchen complete with stove and sink in the back of the barn house.

"Sorry, that would be us," Bill said in his rare, serious tone, "We were looking for some kind of shelter and found this place, I hope you don't mind the intrusion."

"No, I don't mind at all, come Mankey, they're just looking for some shelter." Cooing from above indicated several bird pokemon, probably Pidgeys and Pidoves hiding from the event. The old man indicated to the television and asked, "Do you two know what's going on?"

"No, we just know that there's a lot of black smoke in the sky," Bill continued to answer for the both of them.

"Well, after an attack by the Rockets in the Fuchsia City Gym-"

Bill spoke louder than before, "They attacked Fuchsia!? We have friends there now! Did the report say if everyone was okay?!"

"Yes, don't worry now, the Rockets failed miserably at the hands of Koga and his ninjas, anyway, the smoke and ash is from the Volcano erupting on Cinnabar Island. Apparently the only one not accounted for to have left the island is the Gym Leader Blaine. The news is on about it now, just watch." The Kanto Regional News Network was busy at work telling everyone of updates. It was replaying footage by a third party camera that was on a ship escaping the island. It had been restarted, from the beginning.

"Did you see that?!" An anonymous voice had said.

"Yeah! What the **** is going on?" The people on the boat were reacting to giant plumes of lava erupting from the center of the town on the island. Then the island started to shake more and it was most literally split straight in half, right down the middle, along with the middle of the erupting volcano, revealing more molten lava that came pouring out. Not much shortly after a boat had been seen spurting fire from its back end and jetting out to sea in the direction of Pallet Town. From there, the camera couldn't quite capture it, but slow-motion analysis revealed a black speck go up into the sky and enter the volcano while lava was still pouring out of it. Not too long after the speck entered the volcano did the mountain stop shaking as a white beam of light exited the tip of the cone.

The anchorwoman was back on the screen, "Sources say that Blaine, the Gym Leader of Cinnabar, was the one that stopped the volcano as you had just seen. It hasn't been confirmed as of yet, but it is confirmed however that the only person that has not been accounted for in leaving the island is indeed Blaine. Much of the island was destroyed before the volcano became dormant again, but some parts of the town and jungle were saved by natural barriers created by the second earthquake. More on this story as we gain more news of it. Now back to our reporter in Fuchsia."

"Thanks Hillary, well as you can see behind me the entire gym was destroyed in the recent attack by eight Rocket members, all of whom have been captured and detained by the Gym Leader Koga and his men. Koga, a known former Rocket leader, had this to say:" the camera cut to an earlier clip of Koga in the day, "'I promised the people of my town I would never go back to that evil organization. When I refused the one Rocket member hit a button on the remote at around the same time the volcano had started to erupt. I believe that Giovanni is directly linked to the destruction of Cinnabar Island, and that his cowardly methods will soon come to an end.'

"Another boy who was in the gym with Koga as the event took place had this to say about it: 'Well, uh…'"

Bill jumped up in excitement, yelling, "OH MY GOD JOHN IS HERE IN KANTO!? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I WONDER IF HE'S WITH JACOB TOO!" As if the television was answering his question, the camera cut to another interviewee, who was, in fact, his friend Jacob. Bill started laughing his ass off at his friends being interviewed on the television, "Oh God this is hilarious! I never would have expected them to be direct witnesses!"

Roy spoke up, "how is this funny in the slightest?"

"Because we are looking for them, and they are right there!" He continued to laugh loudly for this reason his partner thought he made up on the spot. He was just happy that his friends were alright.


	31. Ch 31: Blaine's Last Request

Chapter 31 The Road Ahead and Blaine's Last Request

Author's Note: Today, I moved in to college. I'll probably be posting more scarcely because of that. Also, I'm almost caught up to the chapter I've written up to (49). Enjoy!

* * *

A few hours had passed since Roy and Bill had intruded on the old man in the barn, and around the same time Heidi's father had introduced himself to the group, confirming the safety of Heidi's mother, but the death of her grandfather. The two rogue trainers staying with the old man decided to spend the night as to avoid the soot and dust, while Jacob and friends were waiting for the return of the little girl's mother. The news was going over and over about the attack in Fuchsia and the volcano's eruption, as well as Blaine's apparent death. Heidi and her father had to stop watching the news because they didn't want to be reminded every twenty seconds of her now passed grandfather's heroic actions.

A few more hours would pass before the screen cut to black, a giant red "R" appeared in its place. A man in a black suit with a black fedora and a luxurious Persian walked in front of and sat down in a seemingly invisible chair. He crossed his legs and put his fingers together while resting his elbows on the arms of the chair, thus starting his statement, "You now know of the power and influence of Team Rocket. Although we failed in our mission in Fuchsia you know all know that we have the power to control the earth itself. Yes, I'm talking about the eruption on Cinnabar Island. That was caused by large explosions deep underground placed by an organization led by yours truly."

"Yes, we have the power, and we have the resources! Our influence reaches as far as the Unova region, and as wide as Orre! Should you choose to join us you can also attain this kind of power, and you can live peacefully with your pokemon and not worry about their theft. Should you continue to oppose us we will become more forceful and more powerful than you can hope to imagine! We cannot be stopped! We will be successful! We, are the leaders of the new world! We… are… Team Rocket!" The screen cut to black once more, then back to panicked news rooms full of anchormen, women, camera men, executives, everyone going crazy about what had just happened. The expressions on our most notable viewers could be described with one word: determination. Determination to stop this evil, determination to restore peace, determination to defeat Giovanni and his goons and go down in history as the people who helped save the world's pokemon.

* * *

A woman was out at sea, on a boat speeding from Pallet Town to Fuchsia. It was extremely dangerous coming so close back to Cinnabar considering the currents were changing and the waves were vicious. She had only one objective, and that was to get her father's pokemon egg to her daughter. She was wearing a mask to protect from the soot that fell like snow, but that wasn't enough to stop all of the dust from entering her lungs. Cases like hers were happening all over Kanto, but she didn't have the luxury of hiding inside. The Arcanine accompanying her tried to blast away some of the soot and dust, but stopped firing Flamethrowers when it realized it wasn't helping at all. Instead, it turned its attention to propelling the boat forward with its Fire Blasts, as fast as it could, and as powerfully as possible, so his owner's loved one could reach the city safely.

In a matter of only two hours, she reached the shores of route 19, docking her boat next to one she knew was familiar to her. It was her husband's boat. "Hup, Arcanine," the Arcanine dipped its body as to allow her to sit on its back while she rode it towards the city, and towards the hotel her family was staying at. The Arcanine's speed was extremely reliable as they reached their destination in minutes, allowing her to catch her breath as best as she could before approaching her family. She entered the hotel to see Koga, his ninjas, and some kids sitting around in the lobby, they were discussing trivial pokemon training methods and matters that weren't very important at all; nothing in regards to the current situation. She decided to speak up to the crowd, "Do, do you know where my husband is? He-"

"Yes," Jacob interrupted, "He's up in room 301 with Heidi, don't worry, we know that they are waiting for you. You should hurry up and-" as he was saying this she had started running up the stairs to the third floor where she started banging on the door with the number 301 on it. Just as quickly as she started banging did a little girl of age 12 answer the door. The woman went down on her knees and hugged her daughter, glad that she was safe, as did Heidi back to her mother.

"Oh, Linda, you're safe! I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Oh, I was so afraid something had happened to the both of you!"

"Don't worry mommy! We're all okay!"

"Did, you tell her about-"

"Yes, I did…"

"Heidi," Linda patted her head softly, "your grandpa loved everyone on the island, and your grandpa did his best to save us all. I always told you that you had to be strong for the people and pokemon you loved, because that's what my daddy always told me. He was on the island and did his best to save all of the people on it and all of the people's pokemon, even the wild pokemon too."

"I know that I have to be strong and brave just like grandpa."

"He wanted you to have this." She reached into her large backpack and pulled out a yellow, orange, and red pokeball egg. "This is his very best friend's egg, and he wanted you to take care of it."

"Hi-his Magmortar is gone too?"

"Yes, but like I said, they didn't die in vain. They died protecting the people and pokemon they love, and that's why you'll have to be strong, for your friends, for your own pokemon, and for this new baby pokemon that'll be in your care." Heidi took hold of the egg as big as her head, and held it gently against her face. Heidi was excited to take care of her new best friend.

* * *

One of the bigger answers that needed questioning was who was going to take Blaine's place as Gym-Leader. The members of the Elite Four were saddened in the loss of one of their most experienced leaders but didn't have much time for lament as they needed to choose a replacement quickly. The four speculated and questioned considering there were not many big-name type-specific trainers they could just call upon at will to take his spot. Koga's daughter was a poison type ace and they couldn't allow two gym leader's of the same type be in the same League Challenge, plus she had been used as a replacement before when she took Koga's place when he had joined, and subsequently left the Elite Four.

The current members, Will, the Psychic-type ace, Bruno, the Fighting-type ace, Agatha, the Ghost/Poison-type aces, and Lance, the Dragon ace, debated for hours, as per league rules. The rules deciding these kinds of things had been changed several times over the course of the years, including the abolishment of having to challenge a champion after the Elite Four because some argued that the Champion should have to fight in the tournament again to reclaim the title. In the end they couldn't reach a decision, given Lorelei, the only other known famous ace trainer, had been absent from the world for years, and having a Gym Leader like Green exist, who ran a mixed type team, was enough for one League.

They would reconvene tomorrow to decide, but the meeting would end just the same. It was days before they could reach a decision, and it was an unusual one. They decided that the winner of the next League Challenge Tournament would become the seventh Gym Leader, whether or not they are crowned champion in the end. They would not know who would be the replacement, or his skills, but they made the decision, which would cause one of the biggest efforts to win the cup that anyone has seen in the longest time.


	32. Ch 32: Unfair Advantage & Planning

Author's Note: From MONDAY on I'll be posting Jacob's Journey weekly or bi-weekly, depending on the reception I get for this statement. I'm starting classes Monday, and I have no idea what it's going to be like. That and even while doing nothing in my dorm room I haven't even written any more to the story, engrossed in FZero X for the N64. I'll write more, later though, which is why I'm going to post weekly/bi-weekly from now on: so I have time to write at my own pace.

Enough of my rambling, enjoy Chapter 32!

Chapter 32 Unfair Advantage and Planning

Several days had passed, Roy and Bill were unable to leave the barn house due to the dangers of going out in the ash and dust that were still looming overhead, as well as Jacob and his team being unable to move from the hotel, save Len who had to help make shelters for the pokemon in the Safari Zone and escort them all to said shelters his shift for today had ended and his uniform was covered in the falling ash. The workers didn't care that he spread it around the room because they didn't have any other work to attend to and were glad to have something to clean. Tomorrow would be his last day working in the Safari Zone and afterwards he decided that he would travel with his friends to help win the League challenge and defeat Team Rocket; whichever came first.

The news was no different from the other few days, search efforts to look for Blaine at sea and on the island, how the search efforts ended, speculating what the Rockets will do next, speculating where the Rocket hideout is, etc. Today though, a special news report came in. It wasn't a full segment, it was just a simple statement.

"We just received a message from the Elite Four, deciding on the replacement of the empty spot as Gym Leader. They have made the decision that once Cinnabar Island is rebuilt and reestablished, a Gym will be rebuilt there. They also decided that whoever wins the League Challenge Tournament, they will become the new Gym Leader. Should they decide to accept the Gym Leader spot, they must choose a type of pokemon not owned by a Gym Leader in the rest of Kanto and make their home on Cinnabar. They will still have contention to become this year's Champion. Now, from Celadon…" The segment had ended. This was extremely interesting news to all the trainers in the room, considering Jacob had a love for Steel and Normal types, John had several Bug-type pokemon, and it would be extremely appropriate for Heidi to replace her grandfather as Gym Leader, although she didn't have a favorite type of her own.

"I love how they can just make a small decision like that about a new Gym Leader…" Heidi's father was unnaturally angry.

"Honey," his wife says, "It's not that big of a deal, we have other things to worry about… like… father's funeral." The room became slightly depressed after she said that. "Heidi," she turned to her daughter now, sitting next to her on the couch, "I want you to go to Saffron and win that badge, instead of staying here and attending grandpa's funeral."

"But mom…" Heidi looks into her mother's eyes and understands fully.

"Your grandpa would want you to continue on with the Challenge. Plus the tournament is starting in a few months, he wouldn't want anything to slow down his charismatic granddaughter." She smiles and rubs her head gently. "It's okay, that's what he would want."

"I know." Heidi smiles at her mother and stands on the couch. "I'm gonna be the one to win the tournament and become the Gym Leader!"

"You'll have to fight through me first!" Jacob jabbed at his long-time partner, "Besides, you don't have a specific type preference. All your pokemon are different types."

"I know what I'll do! I'll be the fire type, just like my Grandpa!"

"That's my girl!" Her mother starts laughing with the rest of the group. Heidi decides to make a simple request.

"Hey mommy?"

"Yes?"

She hesitates, knowing that her question may be inappropriate considering her Magby egg is supposed to be her last pokemon from her grandfather, but she decides to ask anyway. "Can I trade you one of my pokemon for grandpa's Arcanine?"

Her mother ponders this for a few moments while Jacob and John complain aloud that having a Gym Leader's pokemon would be completely unfair. She comes to a conclusion quickly, "Alright, but you can't use it in a battle until you get to the Tournament."

As she cheers and thanks her mommy; her husband leans to her and asks, "Why are you spoiling our child?" They both chuckle as they watch their daughter prancing around the room proclaiming she's going to be the newest Gym Leader.

"Because it's what father would have wanted. He loved Heidi to death, and she loved him just as much. Besides, his pokemon will still want to battle, and I'm sure Arcanine will love to battle with her."

"What happened to the rest of his team?"

"The other pokemon escorting people off the island are probably all gathered in Pallet Town now, that's where the boats were headed, I was with them. Professor Oak gladly took them in for the time being."

"Good, good… and his other pokemon?"

"All with Professor Oak as well. When the island is rebuilt we'll send them back to Cinnabar to live with you and me." Nick grows a bit pale.

"We are gonna have 60 pokemon in our house!?"

"Don't worry, we have a lot of money that my dad left us, we'll be able to make a huge wonderful house with a huge yard for you, me, and dad's pokemon, while Heidi wins and becomes the Gym Leader." The lovers share a laugh together. "We'll be fine with what dad left us."

"I always loved your old man, hahaha." On the other side of the room the four trainers were having their own discussion.

"That's completely unfair of you to get an Arcanine, just like that," Jacob angrily stated aloud.

"It's my grandpa's! How is that unfair?"

"Because now you'll be undefeatable in the tournament!" John, who favored the Bug-type, was the one giving Heidi a hard time. "Now you'll win the tournament straight out and you'll be a shoo-in against the Elite Four!"

"Oh calm down," Len spoke up now, "Can't you just be happy she's getting one more thing that connects her to her grandpa?" He favored the Dark type so he didn't really care. Len also had the same number of badges as Jacob and Heidi, much like John where he started his league challenge early, and ended it to help his family work at the Daycare. "Besides, who says you'll face her at all in the tournament? What if she comes up against a Ground or Rock-type ace?"

"That's easy for you to say, Dark-types have a lot of dual typing while Bugs don't have much going for them."

"Why do you love them so much?" Jacob grinned as he said this.

"Because they look so bad ass and girls get scared of them because they look scary as hell!"

"Could just be the fact they are bugs…" Len loved to be a sarcastic asshole to his friends.

"Yeah! Well…" John trailed off as he couldn't think of a comeback.

"Speaking of our favorite types, I caught a Magneton in the Safari Zone the other day!" Jacob decided to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"I caught me a Carvanha during my spare time," Len, once again, loved the Dark-type to death.

"I took in Riolu," the mention of the Riolu gives Jacob bad flashbacks, Heidi doesn't seem to be affected too much, probably blocking out the images of the dying Lucario. "Well I'm gonna go trade for my new Arcanine! I'll be right back!" Heidi left through the front door with her mother, now wearing a mask to prevent breathing in too much ash, towards the Pokemon Center.

All Centers had a special machine that allowed pokemon trading to officially happen. People didn't need to use the machine and instead could just hand off each other's pokeballs, but the official way changed the Trainer ID attached to the pokeball and essentially let the pokemon know that its ownership was changing; after the transfer the pokemon always recognizes its new master. It's a preventative measure from the pokemon disobeying commands and such that trainers of the past would experience.

"Well now we know who the strongest of the group is…" Len disappointedly states after the door closes.

"Right now, let's focus on what we should do about Team Rocket," John liked to discuss more serious matters more often.

"Well for one, we all know that it's going to be extremely difficult to even match their top officers. Even if we manage to defeat one, they always come in pairs, and they all have the strongest pokemon in the organization! And imagine what Giovanni's pokemon look like!" Jacob definitely didn't sound confident in their abilities.

"Dude, calm down, we're definitely going to get stronger, especially after the eighth gym… Well, seventh now," Len was being reasonably level-headed for some reason. "Plus with your track record we could expect to see them when we challenge Sabrina and when we challenge Green." The group shared a laugh and continued on.

"Well we know that if anyone were to find out their base the police wouldn't tell anyone. And they probably have bases all over the place."

"One thing is for certain… If history tends to repeat itself then I know where one base is located," Jacob could already imagine where the first place they'd infiltrate is.


	33. Ch 33: Mission Start

Author's Note: Just a reminder that on Monday I'm switching to a weekly instead of a daily. Like I said... again... I haven't worked on it at all so making it weekly/bi-weekly from here will give me time to write more good stories. Because would you rather have daily pieces of crap, or twice a week greatness?

Chapter 33 Mission Start

It was a short few weeks after the eruption of the volcano at Cinnabar. Roy and Bill were physically unable to move from the barn without endangering themselves, and the clouds of ash were finally dissipating. A small, private funeral had been held for Blaine by Linda, Nick, Heidi, (who wasn't able to continue the League Challenge for now because of the ash clouds still overhead) and friends, as well as Koga and his ninja, honoring a person who dedicated himself to his pokemon and his loved ones. It wasn't a big anything to-do, and no press was allowed. They buried his favorite hat and cane, as well as Magmortar's pokeball in a minimalistic casket in the Fuchsia City Cemetery. Once the island was inhabitable once again, they would move his grave to the island, underneath the construction off the new Gym, which would be named after him in his honor.

A few days afterwards the sun was finally visible through the thin dust clouds. Summer was beginning to set in, and the adventurers were ready to move. Roy and Bill were still going to head towards Fuchsia to go see the Safari Zone in hopes their comrades would still be in the city, while Jacob and company would travel back up cycling road to go through Celadon to go to Saffron to challenge Sabrina in the sixth gym. John would once again sit out because he already had the first six badges, and the rest would fight their own ways, each doing a single battle challenge. The plans were already set for the gym challenge, but the quartet of trainers still had to go on Jacob's gut instinct and see if there was a Rocket base in Celadon.

The walk to Celadon from Fuchsia was as long as the walk from the barn house to Fuchsia, ironically enough. "How could we have just missed him!? Did they leave the same time we did this morning?" It was around nightfall now.

"Quite possibly if you're talking about the old barn that I know of," Koga responds. He didn't take very kindly to Roy's familiarity with someone of his stature, but he could make an exception for one of his acquaintance's comrades. "That used to be the cover for an old Rocket base. I was never aware of what went on there but I do know that it was some sort of training facility."

"Then… who was the old man with the Mankey?"

"Old man?... Maybe the base is out of order then. You stayed with him for two weeks and saw nothing unusual? Maybe it was abandoned…"

Bill has a rare good idea, "Maybe if we search it we can find an indication of what they're doing here and now."

"That's a fantastic idea, but if the doors are still operational you won't be able to get in." Koga nods to one of his ninjas who jumps through a window. Less than a minute later he comes back with a small lock box with Koga's name on it. Koga opens it up with a key he pulls from his sleeve and pulls out an ID card. "I was a high-ranking Rocket official, so my key card should gain you entry to almost any room in the base. It's a clearance six card. Go back to the barn, and around the back there should be a large well with a broken off part of the stone wall. Tug the rope four times and an elevator should come up. From there I remember nothing more because I was only in that hideout once."

"Thanks sir, we'll put this information to good use!" Bill starts to turn away back out the hotel door, "Oh, and if Jacob comes back tell him we say 'Hi!'"

"Alright, don't let me down boys." Koga lets them off, knowing they'll do some good in uncovering the plot by Giovanni. The two had left the hotel and Roy noticed Bill was walking towards the city limits. He spoke up at him:

"Uh, aren't we going to the Safari Zone first?"

"But we have a mission to do!" He whines loudly and starts fake crying, "You ALWAYS do this kind of thing to me!" He goes to hug his partner, then smacks him away, "No! You don't get any forgiveness!"

"Come on Bill, I wanna catch some strong pokemon."

"Fine, but I won't be doing much of anything really because I already have my Ninetales!" They turn in the direction of the Safari Zone.

"But what's that second pokeball?" He points at another red ball on his belt.

"Oh that's Hitmonchan. My friend had a bunch of Tyrogues and he gave one to me, so I trained it into a Hitmonchan. I don't use him often but he's a good sparring partner to make my body stronger to protect Ninetales."

"Yeah, I noticed in one battle you stood in front of an attack to protect Ninetales… didn't that hurt?"

"Not when you've trained yourself to protect your pokemon like I have!" They were approaching the gates quickly. It was nearly time for the night shift at the Safari. The two paid the entrance fee and entered.

"Ok, we are looking for a Scyther, a Scizor, or-" At that moment from the bushes in front of them at the starting gate, a Yanmega flew out straight at the two trainers. They both dove out of the way as the Yanmega was already on its return trip, divebombing at the two trainers. "THROW A BALL AT IT! NOW!" They both whipped Safari balls at the unexpected visitor, both missing and losing the balls in the brush, it nearly dove straight into Roy who had to dive out of the way again. It wasn't using any moves, just teasing the trainers. A ball came from behind it and made contact with its head, forcing it into the ball. After one shake it broke out again.

"Goddamn this thing is annoying!" Bill whipped more Safari Balls at it as it continually dodged and moved out of the way. One lucky ball hit the end of its tail, forcing it back into a ball. It shook three times before coming out again, and was on the move, away from the trainers. "You get back here!" In the light of twilight you could see two boys chasing a pokemon all across the Safari Zone.

* * *

"Hi again mom!" Another teary… well, fake teary reunion happened at Jacob's home. She was surprised at the two new visitors, who she sarcastically made hateful remarks to.

"Aww, we love you too mom!" Len and John both gave her a hug.

"What's going on down here?" Erika started to descend the stairs, a Hopip floating in front of her.

"Big sis!" Heidi jumps on her 'sister' before she hits the landing of the stairs. She doesn't stumble backwards, half-expecting her little sister to forcefully hug her. "I missed you so much!" The group laughed along to jokes and conversation for a little while before their mother started coming down on them.

"Jacob! How could you not call me after what happened!? I was worried sick!" She slaps her son upside the head very forcefully.

"I'm sorry it slipped my mind! GOD," the sarcastic remark earned him another smack. Jacob's guests made themselves at home again as they prepared to stay in Celadon for a few days, allowing Heidi to shop with her sister, Erika, while the three guys look for clues indicating a Rocket base. Heidi refused that plan, as much as she loves shopping, and Erika, and the boys agree to let her join the search, making her Jacob's "partner" (problem was more like it). They agreed to start tomorrow morning, after a good long rest.


	34. Ch 34: Safari Action & The Game Corner

Chapter 34 More Safari Action and the Game Corner

It was several hours into the night, and Roy had not given up on chasing down the Yanmega. What first seemed to be a practical joke by the pokemon, soon turned into a deadly hide-and-seek match, and Roy was winning. Bill had sat down near the gate with Ninetales to rest while Roy relentlessly tracked down the bug-type pokemon.

"Come out, come out wherever you aaare~!" The Yanmega obviously didn't want to come out, but it didn't want to give in either. Roy was almost out of Safari balls and it knew that. "Come on! I just want you on my team! Don't you wanna join me?" Well, at least he is honest, it thought. The Yanmega decides that it would probably be better to just join his team in the end. He was a determined character, and training with him would probably be a lot of fun. It flies straight out of the tree, right at Roy, and lets the pokeball hit it square in the forehead. The ball shakes and subsequently stops, signaling the successful capture.

"Yes! Yes! Bill! Did you see that?" The chase had led them back to the starting gate, where Bill was, not watching of course.

"No I didn't. Now that you've finally caught your pokemon can we please leave? I wanna go sleep somewhere comfortable." The moon was high in the sky, the sun had set hours ago, and Bill was hardly awake.

"But there's still one more pokemon I need to catch!"

"You have one Safari Ball left, how do you intend to catch it?"

"Can you give me you-" Bill throws 20 Safari Balls at his partner and walks through the front gates.

"I'll be in the hotel, don't take too long." Roy, now resupplied and reinvigorated began wandering again looking for his next partner. He didn't prefer the bug type over others but he thought Scizor and Yanmega were two of the coolest looking pokemon, and he just had to have them. Scizor was scarlet so it wasn't going to be too hard to spot in the night. Although at this hour everything looked pitch black. Torchie let himself out of his ball.

_"So what are we looking for now?"_

_"Two more partners."_

_"Do we need to get that much stronger?"_

_"Well no, but it makes me feel comfortable having a complete team."_

_"No room for improvement?" _Blaziken laughed thinking, 'as if this team could improve'.

_"Is it wrong to want cool looking pokemon?"_

_"It is when the coolest one is walking next to you." _The two share a laugh.

_"You know you'll always be the coolest to me."_

_"Thanks, but don't you think you're spending too much leisure time when we could be Rocket hunting?"_

_"Like I said, I want a complete team, that way we aren't out-numbered."_

_"Fair enough, but I was strong in the last bout."_

_"Against that Sharpedo you took a lot of punishment. A Scizor wouldn't take that much from a water attack."_

_"Ok, you got me on the type advantage, big deal."_

_"Don't feel threatened by two new pokemon, you'll still be my number one." _The two continued to wander, searching for a sixth member.

* * *

"Don't make too much noise."

"Being incognito is so much fun!"

"Not when you're being so loud!"

"Big bro, why are we in black?"

"It's called camouflage, it's so we aren't spotted."

"Why'd we leave all but one of our pokemon at home too?"

"Duh Len, it's just in case we get caught, we don't lose all our pokemon."

"Don't you think the cops would think we are Rockets if they saw us?"

"Not likely John, they know our faces now, and they know we are Erika's friends, they've got our backs."

The many hushed whispers of the four troopers stalking about in the night towards the Celadon Game Corner weren't very conspicuous, but at the same time quiet enough to stay hidden. The nearby sleeping pokemon weren't awoken, and nobody notices the four trainers clad in black. Jacob didn't live far from the Game Corner, so the trek wasn't long and arduous. They got there quickly, but didn't know what suspicious things to look for.

"Let's try breaking in," Jacob sarcastically suggested.

"Are you a friggin idiot? We'd obviously trigger the silent alarms!"

"No John, I meant let's try around back. If it is a Rocket hideout they'd leave the back door open, and have the real entrance inside!"

"Or better yet," Heidi, the one they would most likely ignore in this situation, actually said something intelligent, "The entrance inside would be on the roof!"

"That's… brilliant. Let's climb the ladder!" Jacob directs them around the back into an alley where there's a metal ladder leading to the rooftop. Surely, just as Heidi had said, there was a slightly ajar window on the rooftop. Len opened the window and John slowly lowered the rope inside. They slid down, one by one into the darkened room that normally had long lines filled with people here to exchange coins for TMs, Pokemon, and other items, they were in the Prize room of the Game Corner. Most of the boxes holding the more valuable prizes were locked up behind the desk, leaving only a few to be carelessly open.

"Maybe there's a switch in one of the open boxes," Len whispers to the group.

"I don't know, but let's try to see if we can find a key of some sort." Jacob indicates the boxes open behind the desk and leaves Heidi and John to look through them. He motions for Len to follow him into the Game room of the Game Corner, where the slots and card tables were.

"Did you find anything yet?"

"Not yet John." Instead, Heidi had found that one of the boxes open had evolution stones in it. She figured that if the box was open, nobody would miss them, and took one of each, Thunder, Water, Fire, Moon, Shiny, and Dusk stone. The greedy little girl quickly stuffs them in her pack as John opens a box to find a few Card Keys and a really old looking and rusted key. He grabbed the girl and ran into the other room, where Jacob and Len were looking under each and every table for a secret door or some switch of some sort.

"Guys, I found some keys! Maybe they'll help!"

"That's great, but I can't find a single thing indicating a switch or lever or anything!" Len angrily punched the nearby wall and jumped around when he held his hurting hand. He slipped on the carpet, fell forward over his feet, and his head landed near one of the back walls. He looked closer at the wall, pulling over his flash light, noticing that there was a small gap. He followed it in a rectangular pattern up, over, and back down the solid brick wall.

"Guys, there's a secret door here. Maybe if we look around here we can find a switch." The four of them pat down the wall high and low, searching for a pressure plate or something. It isn't until John rips a poster off the wall that they find a button. He presses it lightly and the block in front of the secret doorway of the wall opens up to reveal a dark hallway with stairs that lead downwards.

"It's just like the stories about Red. To think it was seven years ago that he stood in this spot." As Jacob reminisces about the legendary trainer, the other three start off in front of him. The four travel down the stairs to a terribly lit, and run-down basement-like room with stairs on one side and discarded, empty boxes on the other. There's also a door in front of them, like an elevator door that doesn't want to open up, no matter how much force they use. Heidi starts down the stairs before the others and lets out a cheerful yell.

"Hey guys! There's some cool stuff down here!"

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go see!" John leads the other two down the stairs into a better lit room, that is much more well kept than the one they were in before. More electronic doors are seen in hallways going both to the right and left, with an elevator door in front of them. More stairs leading down are to the right of them as well.

"Well guys, should we split up?" John hands Jacob a Card Key.

"You and Heidi go that way, me and Len will go this way."

"Right, see if you can find any papers or items that will indicate what they might want to do now. Be careful of Rocket grunts that might be here too." The two groups split ways as they released their respective pokemon. John and Len were going ahead with their Houndour and Escavalier, while Jacob and his Metang are accompanied by Heidi and her Eevee. Jacob used the Card Key to open the first door, not knowing that two Rockets were discussing their plans on the other side.


	35. Ch 35: Infiltration?

Author's Note: REMINDER that I will start posting bi-weekly as of tomorrow. Hope you've enjoyed the story thus far as it starts to get more into the plot!

Chapter 35 Infiltration?

The two Rocket grunts turned and looked at the intruders, and didn't notice that they didn't have big red "R"s on their chests.

"So are you the two new guards?" The woman asked in a shrill voice.

"Um, uh," Jacob couldn't find the correct words to use, but Heidi was able to cover for him.

"Yeah! We came down to get our new shirts!"

The man, slightly older than Jacob spoke, now noticing the absent logos, "Oh, you must be the new recruits they've been talkin' about. Nice pokemon, smart move to join us instead of having them taken."

"Well, ya know!" Jacob said, still nervous as hell while Heidi had the poker face of a God.

"Well the changing room is down on the third floor, tell Robbie your size and he'll find a uniform for ya." The man waved them away and they left as fast as they entered. As they walked down to the third floor they could hear the woman saying, "Say, wasn't that little girl a bit young?"

They ran to the third floor and saw a man standing there, they could immediately assume he was 'Robbie' as he asked out loud for a few other grunts to hear, "HEY-O! Are you two the newbs!? Whooo! Nice pokemon! I'm sure having a Metang will get you up the ladder pretty fast!"

"Y-yeah, uh, we just came to get our uniforms." Robbie pushed the two into another room where the black shirts, hats, and pants were all lined up. "Uh, we already have the pants and hats, I'm sure all we'll need are the shirts-"

"NONSENSE BUDDY!" Ya gotta have the whole shebang!" The taller, tan-skinned, and much buffer man was forceful in having them enter the changing rooms and putting on the whole uniform. Heidi came out of her changing room in a baggy shirt and pants with a hat too big for her head and boots too big for her feet, while Jacob was wearing a slimming black top, with form-fitting black pants tucked into comfortable silver boots while donning an attractive black hat. "Hey, girl, aren't you a bit small? That suit looks ridiculous on you!"

"They say you gotta start your career early!"

"Well I dunno who says that but you better be powerful if you wanna survive here!" Robbie was over-enthusiastic with every new sentence he spoke. He then pushed the two trainers into another nearby room down the hallway where they got maps of the facility, pictures taken for their Level 1 identification cards, and, "As new members you can choose a new pokemon to partner up with, granted you don't already have a full team!"

Heidi starts, "Are these pokemon stolen from trainers?"

"Nooooo, those pokemon are in a special facility outside of Viridian, these pokemon are captured straight from the wild with no former training that we know of at least!"

Jacob, sees to try to take advantage of this, figuring taking a more powerful pokemon would lower their strength a bit, "You wouldn't happen to have an Aggron, would you?"

Robbie gets a huge kick out of this, laughing uncontrollably for a few minutes. While he's laughing Heidi elbows Jacob in his kidney, indicating he shouldn't take any pokemon from them. In a few hushed whispers he explains what he thought earlier, and Heidi agrees. After Robbie stops laughing he says, "If you think we'd give a newb an Aggron you're crazy!" He laughs some more, "But we can give you a Lairon, it recently evolved from an Aron in the wild."

"I'll take it!" Robbie goes through a small catalogue posted to the wall, and opens one of the boxes in the drawer. He pulls out a pokeball and tosses it to Jacob.

"And for you miss?"

"Do you have a Torkoal?" Heidi was looking for more Fire-types so she can be prepared to take up her future role as Gym Leader, should she win the tournament.

"Yeah, we got a few of those!" He pulls from the same box another pokeball and tosses it to her. They release their new pokemon, the Torkoal looks indifferent to its surroundings, not caring about anything going on around it, while Lairon looks frightened, finding itself in a new strange location. The two pokemon, as well as the ones they had out already, are returned to their respective balls and put into their belts.

"You said there was another facility outside of Viridian, do you know where that is exactly?"

"Can't tell ya that much bud, that's level 3 clearance, you don't leave this area or its base until you are transferred by a base leader, a Duo Trio team re-locates you, or you gain Level 3 clearance, which allows you to freely transfer between bases, but that takes a while. You'll be lucky to make Level 2 before the plan's finished!"

"What's a 'Duo Trio' team?"

"You don't know about them? Geez, rookies really know nothing do they? The three teams of paired Rocket Leaders that report directly to Giovanni himself! They are given Level 6 clearance, which is basically they can do whatever they want as long as it's for the good of the organization, and they are the most powerful trainers in all of Team Rocket!"

"Wow! That's interesting! Do you know their names?" Heidi's inner 'little-girl-curiosity' was naturally working for them.

"Butch and Cassidy make up one team, Annie and Oakley is another, and Jessie and James are the third team. You do NOT want to cross them in any way! They can have you booted from Team Rocket if you get in their way! Or they can give you permission to become their personal henchmen if you're good enough!" They were learning so much vital information and couldn't stop now.

Heidi asked more, using her innocent charm to try to get Robbie to talk more. Passersby just took his ranting as more of his motivational speeches to the new members and paid no mind. "What's the plan too? Do you know Mister?"

Robbie swoons over her adorableness and kneels down to her. He starts whispering, "I'm not supposed to say this to people under level 2, but we are making the ultimate pokemon!"

"How are we doing that?"

"Ya see," He whispers more excitedly in the ear of the adorable little newb, "By stealing pokemon, we are taking DNA from every single pokemon, and combining all the best genes to make the best pokemon! Last time we tried cloning Mew, but that didn't work," the disaster of Mewtwo was a tale known far and wide, so he didn't need to elaborate more, "so now we are trying to make a pokemon, that's a robot!"

"A poke-bot?"

Robbie laughs more at the adorable girl. "Well kinda. I've heard rumors that it's also part ancient pokemon; a reanimated fossil of a legendary pokemon, along with the DNA of all other pokemon. And because we'll make it part robot, we are going to be able to control it. They call it-" Sirens start blaring. A grunt runs by and starts yelling at Robbie.

"What are you doing with the new guards _still!?_ Tell them to go take care of the problem, NOW!"

"Well what's the problem?"

"It's just a small security breach on the second floor, nothing they shouldn't' be able to handle with the two already up there."

"You heard the man, you two newbs, go up and see what's going on." Jacob and Heidi make for the stairs and the alarm turns off.

"You think it's John and Len?" Jacob asks Heidi.

"Yeah, probably got caught looking through some papers in the other room."

The two run up to the second floor to find John and Len battling the two Rockets from before, a small scuffle between the four. The woman starts shouting at them, "Ah! Hey, it's the new guys! Help us out here!"

John looks at the two coming up the stairs, and wouldn't have recognized them if it weren't for the pokemon they sent out. "How did you two-?"

"Just shut up and battle!" Jacob shouted as they began the assault on the two Rockets.

"Wait, WHAT? YOU'RE NOT THE NEWBS?!"

"Hardly lady. We hate Team Rocket!" Heidi and her Eevee start attacking, along with Escavalier. The woman's Donphan stood little chance against the two-on-one onslaught and fell quickly after a few X-Scissors and Take Downs. The scuffle with Houndour, Metang, and Meganium was also done quickly as Super Effective Flamethrowers and Confusions pounded it relentlessly for a few seconds. The man and woman tried running through the crowded door but John quickly stopped them by grabbing pressure points near their necks and forcing them to pass out.

"We need to hide them, here, these lockers should do." Conveniently enough for John's plan, the lockers in the room were big enough to fit the two bodies of the K-O'ed enemies. "So the real question is… What the hell?"

"What?!" Jacob now realizes why he's asking. "Oh these! We were mistaken for new members and kinda got ID cards, and stuff- like… that…"

"They gave us pokemon!"

"From the wild! They aren't stolen!"

"Well we can try to use this to our advantage. You two go back down and make up something that drove off the 'intruders.' Len and I will continue to snoop. If they ask about these two," he indicates the lockers, "tell them they chased after us."

"Sounds good. We'll keep finding more out if we can. Oh! And we got maps too, here, take one. and you can have this card-key too, we won't be needing it anymore now that we have our own."

"Alright, let's keep looking… Huh, it looks like this is a level 3 ID card. And according to the map we can access most rooms using it. We didn't find out anything up here other than old outdated papers about the Mewtwo project that we all know about already."

"We'll keep doing stuff too. Don't worry." Heidi smiled and nodded at her comrades. "Just don't get caught again!" She poked out her tongue as she raced back down the steps, ready to inform Robbie of what happened. Jacob quickly follows after her as John and Len take the elevator down to the seventh floor, being the lowest of them all.

The elevator door opened to small room with a metal door. It took the Level 3 Card Key and led them into a dimly lit, and small room with tables lining the walls and one in the center. they all had papers of strange blueprints, each for different parts of one large machine. One of the blueprints held the final designs of the machine, and where each part would go. They couldn't make heads or tails of it at all, except for the name of it in the top right hand corner, 'Pokemon Gene Splicer 001'.

"Let's take pictures of these Len. You got the camera?" Len tosses a small disposable camera with a flash on it over to John. He straightens each blueprint and sets them up to fit each one perfectly in the frame. After a few flashes they turn to leave when a few boxes tumble off the tables around them. A man enters through the door in a white lab coat, slacks, and a t-shirt underneath. He has long brown hair down to his shoulders and a small brown beard growing in. He notices the intruders and becomes startled, falling to the ground, stammering, "W-w-w-who are you!?"

Len leans over and takes a closer look, "Professor Birch?"


	36. Ch 36: The Plans

Author's note: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLRIGHTY GUYS! I hope you've enjoyed the ride thus far because now you're going to have to wait 3-4 days between each chapter in order to fulfill that cliffhanger you've been dying to read more about! I know, I know, it's going to kill you all oh my loyal 7 fans of my work, but bear with me. I just started classes today and although I only have four different classes, I'm going to quickly have a lot of work to do, which means less time to write. So instead of catching up to where I have written already, I'm spreading it out further here so I have more time to buffer myself with new chapters. Its so you always have a guaranteed chapter or two this week. Well enough of my rambling, read on!

Chapter 36 The Plans

It was still late in the Safari Zone, well after midnight and into Monday morning. After wandering for another hour or so and only seeing stray Zubat here or there Roy was ready to give up.

_"You look pretty exhausted, don't you want to rest?"_

_"You're probably right Torchie. I obviously won't come across what I want here." _The two began for the entrance. _"At least by not sleeping I won't have to relive that hellish nightmare."_

_"You're still having those?"_

_"Yeah, ever since the Pokemon Tower incident I haven't been able to sleep well."_

_"It was one mistake, I should have been stronger."_

_"Don't blame yourself Torchie, it was my misjudgment that almost allowed Gabite to be caught."_

_"You shouldn't blame yourself either. If I could land a hit we wouldn't have needed to panic."_

_"Let's both shut up about it." _They walked back through the entrance of the Safari Zone past a sleeping guard and headed toward the hotel.

_"You know, …" _Torchie couldn't find the right words to use. He didn't know what to say to his best friend, or how to console him now that his depression is setting in again. He couldn't tell him yet, not yet, the time wasn't right.

* * *

"Yeah, about the alarm earlier, it was nothing really, a dude tried to break in and the other two upstairs are chasing him off."

"That's shouldn't be too much of a problem Jake! Now come here, we're getting a transmission for our next orders!" Robbie led Heidi and Jacob down the stairs to the fourth floor into a room where there was nothing but a giant television screen. Men and women sat down on the ground near the front while the ones in the back stood so everyone could see. The screen went from black to white, and slowly faded to a woman with long red hair shooting out from the back of her head. It looked unnatural how straight back it was.

"Is everyone here?" She asked in a shrill voice. There were about 20 people inside the room, and Robbie answered the television with a:

"Tobi and Jen are chasing away a burglar, I'll pass on the message Jessie!"

"Ok, good Robert. Now the plan for this Friday, we already attacked three different Cities with no success, not including destroying Cinnabar, and even Butch and Cassidy were shown up by some runts; so this time the other bases are also going to collaborate with us. I hope you all are familiar with SilphCo, as we've taken it before. This time we are going to take it over, and not just use it for a television show, but we are going to take it over and kidnap the engineers inside, as well as other valuable assets. Then members of the Viridian teams will transport most of them to their base while we kidnap this man specifically."

A picture depicting a mustachioed man with no hair to speak of but that on his upper lip, thick glasses, and a large round nose shows up. "His name is Antonio Fabiano." Find him and transport him here. He will work with our captured professor to complete the Gene Splicer. He works somewhere between floors 4 and 7. While we search these floors, members of the Cerulean team will enter the roof via helicopter and capture any engineers up there."

A random grunt speaks out, "What about the Fuchsia HQ? Will they send people?"

"Yes, after 10 minutes of successful infiltration, they will enter the city from their hiding spots outside of the city entrances and exits, and prevent anyone and everyone from escaping Saffron. After successfully transporting as many engineers as we can, we will search the building for any useful items or information that we can mass produce for ourselves. From there our members will cripple the police force as we take over all of Saffron City. Any more questions?"

Another random voice. "Will you be accompanying us on this mission?"

"Why yes, James, Meowth and I will be overseeing the operation personally. Butch and Cassidy may make an appearance should Giovanni allow it. More details on mission plans and specific teams will be made up soon and sent to you within the next few days."

The screen goes to black and people start getting up and leaving. Heidi, Jacob, and Robbie are the only ones standing in the room after a few seconds

"Exciting huh? Less than a week in and you're already in on a huge operation!" Robbie is very excited for the news.

"Y-yeah, uh, she mentioned three failed attacks, I know about the ones in Fuchsia and Celadon, but what was the third one?"

"Oh that one was a wreck too, Jacob. It was supposed to be a suppression mission, go in, force everyone into the Pokemon Tower with their pokemon, take the pokemon and leave. But what happened was, these two kids came out of nowhere with a Blaziken and a Ninetales and completely compromised the mission by themselves!"

Jacob recognized a strong trainer with a Ninetales, his friend Bill, but doesn't know anybody with a Blaziken. He dismisses the thought but says to himself that he'll ask his mom if Bill visited recently anyway.

"They even defeated Butch and Cassidy by themselves too!" Robbie had continued his story to Heidi while Jacob zoned off. He had just finished his epic story when Jacob noticed the time. It was 4AM and they needed to be home before his mother got up.

"Oh! Me and Heidi here have some stuff to do outside-"

Robbie cuts in, "Well the meeting for today is over anyway, and people do lead normal lives outside of Team Rocket to stay incognito. Only a few of us live at the Barracks 24/7 on the fifth floor. Oh! You see her over there?" He points to a Rocket woman who looked familiar to Jacob, "She works at the mall, and him over there," He points to another Rocket that Jacob could somewhat recognize, "He works with his father outside of Celadon on a farm, and I work behind the counter at the Game Corner! We all got stuff goin on to make more money, so if you got one of those too you're welcome to leave! Your shift is over anyway!"

"Well actually its nothing like that, we just gotta get home before-"

Robbie cuts him off again, "Oh, before your parents get up, right? Hahaha, we got a couple of rebels here! Sneaking off in the night to join Team Rocket behind your mommy's back! How did you ever get the training done?"

"Oh I just told her I was visiting a friend for a while, nothing big…"

"Well I understand, most people here need their undercover lives too to make ends meet. I'll see ya tomorrow night then, same time, right?"

"Right…" Jacob and Heidi are led to the first floor by stairs, where they are shown a secret entrance straight into the first floor. It comes up right behind the Game Corner disguised as a sewer grate. They say their goodbyes and start heading for home. "You okay Heidi? You haven't said a thing all night."

"Yeah, I'm just trying to remember everything that we saw, and what's gonna happen."

"Oh, smart, good job. When we get home write it down so we have some notes for when we tell the cops tomorrow."

"Jacob, we can't do that! They would immediately suspect us!"

"Damn, you're right. Well here's an idea. We tell the Saffron police what's going to happen, and we don't tell the Celadon police where the base is until Thursday night. How's that?"

"That might work… I dunno if the cops will take us seriously though."

"I'm Erika's brother, they have a Gym Leader's word that everything I say will be true."

"I guess that'll work, but we can't be sure. We still have to see what Johnny and Lenny find out too!"

The two walk back to Jacob's house trying to figure out what to do.

* * *

"Professor Birch!? What are you doing here?"

"W-who are you two!? You're not supposed to be here!" The pokemon professor from Hoenn was panicking at the sight of the two rogue trainers.

"Don't worry! We're here to help you," John's reasoning didn't calm him down at all.

"Get out! Before they find you here! Hurry!"

"Professor, please! We're going to get you out of here-"

"But if you do that then they'll take May! I can't let them do that! Please leave before someone comes down here!"

"Professor, slow down, explain what's going on here." Len's voice was able to slightly soothe the panicking man. He was able to calm down enough to explain the blueprints and what Rocket wanted with him.

"I was captured because I study pokemon genetics; what gives them their speed, defenses, attacks, what moves they learn, etc, and how its written into their DNA. The blueprints are for a machine that will be able to take whatever genes from a pokemon I write out, separate them, and combine the other portions to create genetically better pokemon. If done within the species you can have a pokemon with unbelievable strengths and little weaknesses. But what they want from me is to combine genes from different pokemon species… All of them to be exact, and unlock in their DNA their strongest capabilities, to be combined into one super pokemon."

"That's insanity. They can't possibly be thinking that!"

"They are, and soon enough they're going to make me create the DNA for the perfect pokemon… I don't think I'll be able to do it… Literally, and if I can't they'll take my May from me…"

The elevator door opens behind the closed door and voices are heard. Birch starts scrambling around for the two to hide in the small closet. After jamming them in there along with more boxes of papers a voice is heard. "Oh, damn, we took the elevator too low. These buttons suck." The door is heard closing again as John and Len are forced out of the closet and onto the floor.

"We had better leave… Don't worry Professor, we'll do something about this. We're going to help you."

"No, if anything happens then May-!"

"Then what are we supposed to do!?" John asks ferociously.

"Just don't do anything for now. Just leave and do nothing."

The two exit through the door and take the empty elevator back up to the second floor where there's nobody snooping about but them. Assuming Jacob and Heidi left already, they make their way up and out through the Game Corner, back to Jacob's house.

"What should we do John? We need to rescue Birch and tell the police about their plans, but if we do that his daughter will be kidnapped. And who knows what they'd do to her."

"We'll talk it over with Jacob and Heidi. We'll put together everything we know, and determine if stopping whatever they are doing now is worth the kidnapping of one girl."

"But they could do horrible things and it'd be our fault."

"We'll figure something out."

The two continued down the road towards their current home, debating over the predicament at hand, asking themselves if it was right to risk one girl for the stalling of an organization's plans. The two decided it would be best to do nothing for now.


	37. Ch 37: Which Pokemon & Abandoned Base

Author's note: See? Its a good thing I am no longer updating daily because I'd be on chapter 41 right now, and that's only 9 chapters from where I am now! I definitely do need more time to write more quality work so enjoy 37 so I can bring you chapter 50 and have it be good! Maybe when it's the holiday season and I'm not in school I'll update daily again, as long as I can write a good chapter daily. I'm thinking of you fans while I do this! lol.

OH, and I'm also accepting OCs for the pokemon league tournament to happen later in the story. Check my profile page at the bottom for details on what you must PM me. Enjoy chapter 37!

Chapter 37 Which Pokemon and The Abandoned Base

"And that's what we gathered…" Jacob had just finished explaining their side of the night, what they found out, what the next mission is, and most of what Robbie told them. They were in the backyard of Jacob's home, it was sometime later in the afternoon, and just beforehand John and Len explained the deal with the gene splicing and Professor Birch. They really had no idea what the best course of action was at this point.

"If anything you two should definitely not go back to the night-watch job. They probably found the two grunts we locked in those lockers by now, and will probably suspect you should you return."

"You're probably right Len, we definitely can't go back there, and we definitely can't call the cops because they have hostages… But we can't just let their plan go down in Saffron! We have to at least warn Sabrina and hope she'll take us seriously."

"Well I've heard somewhere that she can read minds so she'd definitely be able to tell you if you're telling the truth, Jacob." Len opened up a small book: "Guide to the Gym Leaders of Kanto". It was a year old, so it was probably outdated by now. "She can also use psychic abilities herself, this says."

"Let's do that. We'll go to Saffron tomorrow, and try to get Sabrina to help us. She probably has psychic disciples as well that could help too."

"We can't count on that for every Gym Jake," John was right, Brock's gym was just himself, as is Erika's and Surge's. Misty has swimmers training about and Koga has his ninjas, "there isn't anything to say Sabrina will have nothing but her Psychic-type pokemon."

Heidi, whilst petting her Eevee, finally broke her silence, "If anything we probably need to make our pokemon stronger, fast."

Jacob replied, "And how do you propose we do that?"

She pulls from her bag the stones she took from the Game Corner's Prize Room last night, and throws them on the table. A Thunder, Fire, Water, Moon, Shiny, and Dusk stone are now in front of the other three boys. In awe, John asks, "Where did you get these?!"

"I, kinda took them from the game corner last night…"

"Well what's done is done, we should be able to put these to use." Jacob grabs the Shiny stone. "Togetic needs one of these to evolve, right?... No, I won't use this yet."

"Well I don't know about you, but that water stone could really set me up well!"

"I thought you liked bugs John."

"That doesn't mean I can't have a Starmie!" He grabs the water stone and releases from a net ball a Staryu. "Yo, buddy, you wanna evolve?" He hands the stone over to the Staryu, which takes a good look at it. It turns the rock over in its appendages, and touches it to its crystal. It glows white at the point of contact, as does the rock, and the glow spreads all over the body. After a few seconds a Starmie is standing among the group. "Well I'm satisfied! You guys use the other stones." He puts Starmie back in its ball, making it rest for future battles.

"I'm gonna use the fire stone on Eevee soon!" Eevee looks up at Heidi, looks at the stone, and turns its head to it. "I didn't mean now! I mean when you want to! You know I need fire-types!" The Eevee considers this, and nods as if it is saying, 'Ok, I will be a Flareon, but not till I'm ready!'

"If that's the case…" Len picks up the dusk stone. "I'll save this for future reference. A Honchkrow will be really cool to have!"

"Don't you already have six pokemon Len?" The inquisitive Heidi asks.

"That doesn't mean I can't carry seven or more! When they say to enter six pokemon in a battle, that means only six of what you're carrying! That means I can carry as many pokemon I want!" At discovering this loophole, Heidi makes a mental note of every pokemon she wants to carry with her as well.

"Ok, enough Len. Jacob and I both know that you just wanna copy me because I have nine pokemon with me. Well, we have four days before the Rockets attack Saffron. We should be able to convince Sabrina before then." John stood up and stretched.

"Let's leave tomorrow morning for Saffron. We should head to the mall and buy up some potions and stuff now, so we can keep all our pokemon in check."

"We should leave Thursday, we can train some of our pokemon here with Erika in the time being."

"You're only saying that Len because your Houndour is great against grass types," after Jacob pointed out Len's ulterior motive, Len sighed and said,

"Well it'd be much more attractive to go into battle with a Metagross alongside your Snorlax, or maybe even an Aggron."

"You know as well as I do that training them is going to be such a hassle."

"I say we keep our teams going into Saffron to four, that way it'd be easier to keep track of our pokemon, and that way we don't lose all our pokemon." Heidi's suggestion was indeed a good one, but for some, choosing the pokemon they bring would be difficult.

"I dunno who I'll bring in that case, I got a lot of strong pokmeon because I've been away from the challenge for so long."

"What pokemons do you have Johnny?"

"Typhlosion, Escavalier, Starmie, you know about, then my other six are Scyther, Fortress, Heracross, Exploud, Larvesta, and Shedinja."

"Holy crap, when did you get all of those?!" His old friend was surprised at how many pokemon he had come across after he went home. Jacob, now realizing one of John's pokemon was a strong Normal-type, asks kindly, "Hey, buddy of mine! Mind if I trade a pokemon for your Exploud?"

Knowing his friend's love for the Normal-type, John agrees, "Why don't I just give him to you? I only caught him 'cuz I thought, eh, why not, an Exploud could be cool, but he's been kind of a jerk to me lately. He probably needs a trainer that'll use him more often." He reaches in his back and tosses over a quick ball to his friend, who in turn releases the pokemon inside. A large purple mass comes out, and stretches its arms and legs. It looks at its master and growls loudly.

"How ya doin bud?" The Exploud turns and looks at Jacob, "I'm gonna be your new trainer from today!" The Exploud looks up and down Jacob, punches him in the stomach, walks over to the corner of the yard, and sits down, watching the group. Jacob, now slightly keeled over, starts yelling at John, "What the hell is this?!"

"I told you he's a jerk." The Exploud chuckles aloud and goes to sleep. Jacob returns it to its Quick ball and slaps his friend upside the head.

"Anyway, let's just bring four each then. I'll bring Snorlax, Magneton, Metang, and Exploud, how about you guys?"

"I'll bring Mightyena, Umbreon, Sneasal and Houndour."

"I'll bring Typhlosion, Escavalier, Heracross, and Shedinja."

"And I'll bring Eevee, Hootie, Arcanine and Riolu!"

"Try not to kill anyone with Arcanine Heidi…" The group laughs at Jacob's joke, now making their way back inside the house. "We leave tomorrow!"

* * *

Bill and Roy were once again more than halfway down route 14 on their way to the possibly deserted Rocket Hideout. Accompanied by their Fire-type pokemon, the two were confidently on a mission to uncover some secrets of Team Rocket. The level six Card Key was sure to get them in most rooms of the base, and through that they hoped to uncover a lot of information.

"Ugh, not catching the pokemon I want is frustrating!"

"Calm down, you got yourself a Yanmega. Isn't that enough?"

"You only have Ninetales and that Hitmonchan, are those the only pokemon you use?"

"I rarely use Hitmonchan as it is. Ninetales is the only one for me!"

"What happens if it faints in battle."

Bill glares at his partner, with an intensity he's never seen before. "I will never let my baby faint."

"Oh Billy, you're so wonderful!"

"Heheheh, I knooow~!"

Roy and Torchie both give Bill an odd look. "Well either way we're bound to dig up something, old or new. We'd have to go back to Koga to see if any of it is useful."

They round the corner on to route 13, walking seemingly becoming a chore. After another few hours of walking filled with random side conversation, they make their way up to the barn again. The Mankey inside causing another ruckus.

"Heh! Huh? Who's there?! Oh, it's you two fellers. Ya forget something?"

"No, we need to investigate something, do you use the well in the back?"

"Huh, oh, no, that dang thing don't have water in it. It definitely won't be good anyway after the eruption and what not. Why do you need to see it?"

"No real reason. But if you don't see us come up from the well, call the police."

"What are you talkin' 'bout boy?"

Roy begins to explain, "There's a Rocket Hideout down the well. We are gonna see if we can find anything related to what they are doing now."

The old man's expression changed. "Well good luck to ya, but they abandoned that place three years ago. I should know, I was the guard, here all by my lonesome with Mankey," the mention of its name makes it smile at its master, "Let me know if those bastards have any plans to reimburse me! They said I'd retire in style!" He starts going off, rambling about the past, old Rocket officials he had the 'in' with, and several grunts he befriended and trained. The two ignored him and made their way to the well in the back. Bill tugged the rope four times and a small wooden square came up from the depths of darkness. Roy took a step on it and was lowered slowly below the ground's surface.

After a few seconds the walls opened up around him to reveal a small hallway in front of him with a door. He stepped off the plank and yelled up for Bill to come down, whom after another minute or so, joined his comrade in the darkened hallway. They opened up the first door using the Card Key given to them by Koga, and walked further into the bowels of the base, not knowing what they would encounter.


	38. Ch 38: Suspicious Activities

Author's note: once again guys, I'm accepting OCs for this story! Enter one if you want to see your character be in this story! Otherwise it'll just be more work for me later... ANYWAY, bi-weekly is going well for your schedules I hope because its working fine for mine. I'm a little behind where I wanted to write up to at this point, but that's why I changed the posting schedule! Enjoy chapter 38, blahblahblah, give me an original character so I can use him, blahblahblah, keep reading, tell your friends about it, spam the link to this story on every forum you go to, etc. etc. lol

Chapter 38 Suspicious Activities

They wandered about the abandoned base endlessly searching for some form of information they could use against Rocket. Every room they searched was completely void of anything useful, papers from the Mewtwo incident, broken pokeballs lying around, old computers whose memories were wiped completely clean, everything was useless. Bill decided to go down a few more floors ahead of Roy, who was still inspecting every nook and cranny of one of the main offices that had a few filing cabinets in it.

"Huh, it's mostly just resumes and reports about a lot of the Rocket Members that worked here and their job descriptions. You think there's anything in here we might find interesting?"

_"Hmm, possibly. You should check just to make sure. We could see if we can interrogate them later or something… Don't choose the janitor to keep! How about this guy?"_

Torchie points down at a random paper with a Rocket Grunt wearing glasses with short black hair on it. Under the job description was a mass of scribbles that one couldn't possibly pass off as words. A rough translation comes out to be something to the extent of "squad leader, in - ture devices. Wor - Silp - 3 years. Manuf-d 'Sn - lls', to use - erations."

"If I could guess he was in charge of making the Snag balls that the Rockets use now. But they didn't need to use them for the Mewtwo project, they only cloned Mew from it."

_"It's possible this was abandoned after the new plans were made."_

"Yeah but from what's going on now, it must've been in the very early stages at that point… Hey, it says here he lives in Saffron, we could go see him if he's still around."

_"Let's go find Bill and see what he thinks of it."_

"Let's look through a few more of these first instead."

Bill and his Ninetales explored the bowels of the base, hoping to find the leader's office or something resembling it, where all the top secret information would be hidden. Each room after another looked the same, empty save a table with a broken item of some sort on it. Floor five, six, seven, all looking exactly the same, there was only one more floor left he hadn't checked, and he expected the same result.

He walked down the flight of stairs leading to the eighth floor and was surprised at what he saw, the lights were on and in perfect working condition. It was strange how the rest of the compound would be entirely empty while this one floor was in perfect working condition. He entered the first room to his right using Koga's Card Key to see another lit room, the table in the middle recently dusted off, with berry planters scattered about the room, each with different plants growing in the pots. He entered another room separate from that one and found a security control room with several working screens each playing city news stations. Celadon, Fuchsia, Cerulean, Pewter, and even some from Johto such as Goldenrod and Cherrygrove were on the screens.

"What do you think of this Darling?"

_"I would have to say someone's living here. Isn't that obvious?"_

"No, well, yeah, but I meant who could be here for three years and not be detected at all?"

_"Probably someone with the right pokemon to keep themselves alive for all this time. Electric pokemon to work the lights, Water pokemon for obvious reasons, the berry pots for sustenance, Fire pokemon for heat, maybe even a Psychic-type so he can come and go using teleport as he pleases."_

"Well, either way it's extremely odd. If they're here now there's no telling what they'll do to me."

_"Come now Billy, I'll fend off the big bad guys for you."_ The two entered a third room where there were living spaces for several people and their pokemon, or just one person and their pokemon, or a lot of pokemon. Either way there were several beds, all rustled and untidy as if someone had just awoken from their nap moments ago. Under one of the beds was a small dresser, fit with a few shirts, many changes of socks and male underwear, and a few pairs of jeans and sweatpants. Nothing else of real importance inhabited the room.

The two retreated back into the hallway and proceeded down until a door met them at the dead end. Bill pulled out the Card Key once more and touched it to the sensor. Access Denied. He touched it again. Access Denied. He tried a third time. Access Denied. "What the hell? Koga said this would get in most doors!"

_"Maybe it's a level seven clearance? Only Giovanni's card could probably get in there."_

Bill knocked on the door lightly, and as femininely as possible in his high pitched tone said, "Helloooo~! Is anybody hooome~!"

"Hold on just a minute." The voice from the other side startled both Bill and Ninetales, he obviously didn't expect an answer. The door slowly slid open, a boy of about 17 with red hair down to his shoulders behind it.

"I don't normally get visitors down here."

* * *

The planning stages continued within the home of Jacob and his family for their Saffron defensive, as well as training of their chosen pokemon. It wouldn't be long before Len's Houndour would evolve, and it would take much more time for Exploud to take a command from Jacob.

"Maybe you should choose someone else to bring bro."

"I don't want to risk losing Alexandra, and Lairon isn't used to being trained yet either." He looks over to his other pokemon about the yard, where his Lairon, acquired from Team Rocket's base, was slowly molding into a member of the team. Alexandra happily flew around it as it shied away from all other contact. Snorlax, who offered some berries, couldn't bring the Steel-type out of its shell. Ivysaur couldn't do much either as the only company it preferred was that of the naïve little Togetic.

"That's as much as it'll interact. Then again it wouldn't have a choice with Togetic's outgoing nature." Jacob and Heidi stood in the backyard watching over their pokemon prepare themselves as well.

"You scared bro?"

"Kinda. We gotta be strong, remember?" He smiles down at his partner, patting her head lightly. "We'll be fine, they're no match for us, right!?"

"Right! But, what about Jessie and James? They're supposed to be the strongest…"

"So were Butch and Cassidy but two trainers got them!"

"Yeah, you're right. We got em!" The Lairon was playing around with the Togetic now, a smile coming to its face as it jumps up and down with its new friend.

* * *

"Yo John, how is the smart-guy stuff coming along?" He walks over to the computer where John is sitting at, printing out floor plans of the SilphCo. building, his Shedinja floating next to him.

"It's coming along. Trying to find information on this Antonio Fabiano guy is pretty tough too. Apparently he's the head of miscellaneous machine development. What are the machines though? It's all kinda fishy to me."

"You think SilphCo. is making weird stuff too?"

"Well it could be stuff like Pokedexes or improving on Devon Corp.'s Pokenavs."

"Meh, whatever it is it's piqued the Rockets' interest, maybe we should do a bit of investigating too?"

"Well what could SilphCo. possibly be doing that's potentially illegal on a scale equal to the Rockets? If they were doing that then Team Rocket could just ask, not have to go through an entire operation."

"Or maybe…" John goes to work on another monitor, opening a new internet window searching 'SilphCo. Sales Report.' He opens the most recent result and scrolls down to the 'Totals'. "They spent 1.3 Billion pokeyen in the whole year." He scrolls to the 'Misc. Machine Dev.' "This part of the company spent 400million pokeyen alone, which is more than the pokeball manufacturing and item production combined. What could they possibly be doing that they would need to spend so much money?"

"I don't know, but maybe the Rockets want to capture him for reasons other than heading the 'Gene Splicer' machine project."

"To interrogate him maybe?"

"These are ridiculous conclusions to jump to though, but when you see the facts it does make sense."

"You think SilphCo. is doing some extra work on the side?"

"Like what? Putting up a front for another criminal organization? Who? Team Magma?" Len laughs aloud at his joke but he knows that's it's entirely possible.

"Or maybe SilphCo. is making something to combat the Rockets?"

"You mean their own ultimate pokemon?"

"Well the president is paranoid enough. Last time Rocket showed up he was held hostage."

"We will get to the bottom of this, but for now, let's just make our mission to find this man and make him answer questions, before Team Rocket does."

The two remove themselves from the room to let Jacob and Heidi know about their findings.


	39. Ch 39: Plan B and Another New Ally

Author's Note: Still looking for Character OCs! Not a single one of my 10 loyal readers has sent one in... that's very disappointing... :(

Lol whatever, just continue to read.

Chapter 39 Plan B and Another New Ally

Bill and Roy are given a modest tour of the small living area that belongs to this strange guy here, who explains how the Rockets did indeed leave this place three years ago and that they would hardly find anything useful here that could help them. The boy explains how he knew the Rockets had moved out and because he had been virtually disowned by his father he chose to live here among his pokemon who he had been friends with for a long time, which can be seen by his powerful Feraligatr, Alakazam, and Meganium. It hadn't occurred to them to introduce themselves to the humble person giving them a tour of their home.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Bill, this is my lovely Ninetales, this is Roy,"

"Sup."

"And his Blaziken, Torchie."

"Nice to meet you all, hahaha. I'm called," He hesitates for a moment, "Michael."

"Been down here so long you forgot your own name?" Bill laughs at his own joke, then continues the conversation, "Have you ever come back up from down here?"

"I sometimes indulge in a restaurant dinner once in a while by teleporting to Fuchsia, or Lavender Town with my Alakazam but other than that I've had no need. My berry planters give me fresh fruit and Feraligatr uses water gun whenever I need something to drink. It's given me time away from the world that any man would desperately want but get tired of soon after."

"It's amazing how you've survived here for so long without other human contact. And what's with the televisions set to all the news stations?"

"Well one day I was watching TV, then, there was Giovanni on the TV, and since then I've set all the monitors to different news stations. To see if any of them talk about suspicious activity. There's nothing notable other than their giant armed attacks."

"That just means they're doing their job well apparently." Michael leads them into a guest room he set up and it looks like hasn't been used since he made it. "Uh, what's this?"

"A guest room. I haven't had guests so this is the first time I've been in here in a while."

"Oh, okay, thanks…" Bill thinks for a moment. "would you mind if we continued searching the upstairs floors for any information?"

"Sure, go ahead, but you'll need a level 7 card key to enter here again, plus, like I said earlier, it's probably devoid of most important documents."

"Actually, I found some employee documents that may help us out." He pulls out a few documents from earlier, and shows them to his friends.

"Wow, I'm surprised you actually found something, but these won't help you. These people probably moved away by now." Michael was right, it was unlikely that someone from Team Rocket would stick around in Kanto after the slow breakdown of the gang.

"Well crap," Roy threw the papers into the garbage can and kicked it over in anger.

"Hey Mike, how did you find out about this base anyway?"

"Oh, uh, well, uh, my dad was with Team Rocket but I didn't like them, that's why he effectively disowned me too. He wasn't exactly the most understanding dad."

"Hey, why don't you join me and Roy and come fight Team Rocket with us?! Our friends Jacob, Len, and John are fighting them too! They were the ones on the TV when Fuchsia was attacked!"

"Well, maybe, but if you're really going to fight them then I should probably show you something," He leads them to his main room, "I spend my time here intercepting signals, and there are a lot that are just information about captives, pokemon caught, etc. They have successfully captured at least 300 different pokemon at this point, over half of the necessary amount they want." He clicks a few buttons and pulls up a video, a red-haired woman appears on the screen, starting to talk about a plan.

"This plan she's explaining now was broadcasted to the Celadon Base this morning at around 1AM, it's about an attack at Saffron, the entire city. There will be at least 60 Rocket Grunts taking SilphCo. Alone, then more will enter the city to make sure nobody leaves. Jessie and James themselves will also be overseeing the operation too, and they are the best of the best."

"Then who were Butch and Cassidy? They said they were the best but we whupped them!"

"You two are the trainers that saved Lavender town?! I'm surprised I didn't recognize you from the news reports!" Mike was taken aback as he took a few steps away. "With you two we can definitely stop the attack! I'll join you, but we should focus on battling the Rockets outside the city, that way people can escape the city."

"You're right, the people and pokemon escaping should be top priority. The cops should be able to handle the Rockets inside SilphCo." Bill was confident in their current plan, and was hoping Roy could continue to add to it.

"Well, I'll take the west entrance, Bill, you take the south entrance, and Mike, you should either take the north or east, three of the entrances lead from cities, but Lavender Town isn't exactly the safest place to run to right now too."

"If we could get Sabrina's help then maybe,"

"Sabrina would probably be protecting her own pokemon from the attack, Bill. We can't rely on her if you think about it."

"You're right Mike, she'd be busy protecting the Gym… hmmm…." The group collectively thought about what to do about the situation. Bill finally spoke up and said, "Why don't we ask for help from Len's sister? She lives at the Daycare Center so she could guard the north entrance. But, if anything happened Len would never forgive me…"

"It's worth a shot. She probably knows her brother is fighting for the cause, so she might want to help."

"You obviously don't know her Roy. She's not really into battling her pokemon, I don't even know why I suggested it in the first place!"

"You said she lived at the Daycare Center?" Mike's interest was piqued.

"Yeah, why?"

"Let's go and ask her! Alakazam, Teleport us to the Daycare Center."

In a flash of purple light they were immediately transported a foot off the ground across the road from Len's house. After landing gently on his feet, and watching the other two fall flat on their asses, Michael turned and looked at the house, the sunset hitting the windows and sending a glare into his eyes.

"So is this the place?"

Bill looks around, gets up and says, "Yep, let's see if anybody's home." The three, alongside their three pokemon, walk up to the door, where Bill knocks gently a few times. The barking of a Lillipup is heard from inside the door, followed by a girlish voice telling it to quiet down as she opened the door. The girl with long brown hair to the middle of her back, slender arms and legs, and eyes that reflected the orange of the sky stepped onto the stoop with a Lillipup around her feet and a Pichu in her arms, greeting the six figures in front of her.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"You don't remember me?! I'm so offended! Gosh! What did I ever do to deserve this hatred!" After the first line she started giggling, now recognizing her friend with erratic fake mood-swings, and giving him a half-hug.

"Oh Bill, I haven't seen you in so long! How are you doing?"

He pushes her away, "No! No love for you!" She starts to giggle again.

"Can you at least introduce me to your friends?"

"I'm Roy, and this is Torchie,"

"And I'm, Micheal, and this is my Alakazam."

"Hello all, please, come on in, we are starting to prepare dinner if you want to eat here."

Bill took over the conversation from here, "No thank you kind miss, we are here just to ask a favor. You know Len is helping Jacob to fight Team Rocket, right?"

"Yeah, he told me over the phone a few weeks ago, before the eruption, that he was going to help Jacob defeat Team Rocket."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"I don't, sorry, is there anything else I could do to help?"

"Actually, we came here to ask you if you wanted to help us. There's going to be an invasion of Saffron City this Friday and we need one more person for our plan to work. Can you help us?"

She shies back towards the door, looking somewhat frightened from the prospect of taking on an evil organization, "I-don't know, I'm not very good when it comes to battling, I just don't train my pokemon for that."

"If it's about your concern for your pokemon we can give you some of ours instead. We just really need the help."

"Why not call the police?"

"They will be too busy taking care of the Rockets in the SilphCo. building, the police can only do so much."

"Plus," Mike decided this was the time to butt in, "There are probably Rocket Members among the police force too. They may not do a thing in the end."

She pondered this for a few moments in a wishy-washy, moving her body around manner. A figure appeared from an open window overhead, a man with short black hair and a mustache pops his head out of the window and yells down to his daughter, "Just go, help your brother's friends, I'll even let you take Nidoqueen with you!" He tosses down a beat-up pokeball with many scratch marks across it, landing softly in Alexandra's hands.

"But dad! I don't know if I can…"

"If need be Nidoqueen will protect you. Don't worry about it." He closes the window overhead. She smiles at the beat-up ball and at her new teammates.

"Let me get my pokemon." The smiling girl returns inside the house and fills her backpack with a few changes of clothes, her pokeballs carrying her four favorite pokemon, and other various girlish needs that are too detailed to get into now, and heads out the front door knowing well that she won't be home for a while.


	40. Ch 40: The Last Peace

Author's note: Still looking for original characters to take up slots in the league tournament, because i don't want to have to continue to be creative... okay, chapter 40!

Chapter 40 The Last Peace

Tuesday, 9:23AM. Saffron City. Three days before the attack on Saffron.

"We should learn more about the area we need to defend." Mike was explaining to the other three. "Roy, go familiarize yourself with the western gate, Bill, the southern gate, and you Alexandra, the eastern one. We have to check out the lay of the land for each one, see if we can use the surroundings to our advantage. We could possibly switch around if the landscapes are different."

"So like for Alexandra's Nidoqueen, it'd be more appropriate if there are more rocks and cliffs around?"

"Exactly Roy."

The four each take into consideration what they may face from each entrance, the ones leading from the cities probably having the most Rockets to repel, and the three strongest would clearly have to take those sides. Torchie and Ninetales both have the capabilities to take out a multitude of Rockets at once, but nobody knows what Mike's pokemon are capable of, and Alexandra is probably much too weak a trainer to handle a bunch of people on her own. With no way to remedy this the only feasible option that came to them was if Torchie helped her and Nidoqueen.

"You'll be fine with that, right Torchie?"

_"I'll make my priority protecting her and her pokemon. The others can easily protect you."_

"It'll be strange fighting without you."

_"You'll manage."_ The two share a smile as the plan becomes more and more solid.

"Will you be okay with Torchie, Alexandra?"

"Yeah, don't worry, he knows how to battle himself, right? I don't want to be too slow to give him a command while I'm using Nidoqueen."

"Don't worry, he's smart enough to know what he's capable of." The Blaziken gives a confident thumbs-up. The three exchange a laugh and continue their rounds about the city with their teammates. They exit through the west gate, where Roy and he determines his Porygon 2 and Mantine will defend.

"There, behind the thick tree line, that's probably where they are going to hide, so if you launch a few Hydro Pumps in there you could injure some of them before they have a chance to move." The plan was slightly brutal but extremely doable. They circled around towards the southern entrance, Bill's domain.

"There isn't much but shrubs around. They'll probably dig holes and hide in the ground or dig trenches or something," Mike concludes.

"No, no, there's got to be more to it than that." Bill leads them to walk down the road a bit and discover an old abandoned house, the door recently smashed in. "That's probably the entrance to the underground tunnel. It'd be logical to hide there, because there isn't any spot closer to the city worth hiding around."

"If that's the case the same could be said for the northern entrance. Just take out the underground passageway house and we'll be golden."

"But, Roy, the northern entrance has several better hiding places they could use, like the small plateaus between Saffron and the Daycare."

"They could still be holding troops there as a second wave or something, it'd be best to make sure its destroyed too." With Mike's last input the group agrees on the plan thus far, and move towards the eastern entrance, where Alexandra and Torchie will take over.

"The tall grass should provide them some good cover, if we cut it they literally won't have anywhere to hide here." Mike was right. There was nothing between Saffron and the mountains where Lavender Town is hidden in but the vast tall grass of route 8. "We shouldn't set it on fire that day, so it would be better to cut it all down." He threw up a pokeball, his Meganium coming out of it. "Cut all this for me."

The vines of the Meganium effortlessly chopped down the grass in front of them down to their ankles for at least 100 yards in front of them. There was still a lot of tall grass in the distance but this way it would be much easier to see them coming.

"Torchie, only set the field on fire as a last resort, should anything go wrong." Blaziken nods at his master as they continue back to the north entrance, Mike's territory. Small plateaus in front and around the surrounding area would be the ideal place to hide for Rockets if they wanted to enter the city, otherwise the small forests' tree line on either side of the road would also make equally good hiding spots.

"You can't expect them to come from any direction so you should have the hardest area to defend, but I know for a fact you can handle it by yourself, your pokemon look extremely powerful." Roy took a quick visual scan of the area to see if there were any other places of interest they would be able to hide. On the east and west sides the underground passageway was completely caved in and destroyed due to lack of maintenance so nobody had to worry about them using the houses that acted as the entrances as hiding places. Plus they were placed unnaturally far away from the entrances to Saffron so they counted them out to begin with, but Roy was making sure the house for the northern entrance was in a good enough condition that they could expect troops there too.

"It's pretty much in shambles dude." Bill was exactly right. The house was about to cave in on itself, and probably wouldn't survive another few days of ordinary weather, so the Rockets would definitely not put people in there. "Well Mike, good luck!"

* * *

Tuesday, 4:14 PM. Outskirts of Celadon.

"Please sis, can you take care of my Ivysaur while I'm gone for just a few days?"

"Fine. Jeez, so whiny, what am I going to do with you?"

"Thank you Erikaaaa~ I loooooove youuuuu~!"

The final preparations were finally made for leaving for Saffron, the pokemon being left at home were being stored in Jacob's room, under his bed, for safe keeping, and the ones they were bringing were each attached to the respective trainers' belts as they started leaving home.

"It's about time you and your friends get the hell out of my house!"

"Geez mom! We thought you loved us!" Len gives his second mother a hug.

"You bozos! I like Heidi more than I've ever liked the rest of you people!"

"We know you don't mean that!" Len starts rocking Jacob's mother back and forth while still hugging her as if there were slow music playing.

"Yeah yeah, whatever! Just take your time coming back home!"

"Don't worry mom, we're heading to Saffron then straight from there we are going to Viridian, we'll be League Challenge ready by Saturday!" He was hoping the alibi was enough so that on Friday his mother didn't have to worry about them in Saffron City.

"Yeah yeah, call me when you win your last badge!"

"With his track record it'll be weeks before he can finally beat Green, but I'll call you when we get our Earth Badges!" John's jab earned a laugh from Erika, who was now drinking tea at the kitchen table, a Whimsicott at her feet.

"Just get outta my house already! Jeez boys!"

"Aw, I'm gonna miss you mommy!" Heidi grabs her other mother around her waist in a teary-eyed hug as well.

"Oh God, you know I love you the most Heidi, now take good care of these idiots."

"I will!" She smiles as she leads the other three boys out of the house and into sun and warm air of summer. They all walk out of the house, the leaves as vibrantly green as ever, and berries starting to grow on the trees in abundance. The road outside of Celadon is a peaceful one, bird pokemon chirping and flying overhead, grass pokemon poking their heads out of the brush alongside the roads, bug pokemon hanging from the branches of the trees. It was the first time Jacob knew peacefulness as he walked down a route before the Rocket organization rose up again, and probably the last time he'll know it until he and his friends can destroy Team Rocket.


	41. Ch 41: Fateful Encounter & Good Battle

Author's Note: Crap... sorry I didn't update yesterday; I was playing Borderlands 2 and forgot all tracks of time. Well, before I go off to a job interview let me just say that this may be the last bi-weekly update, and to enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 41 Fateful Encounter and Harsh Battle

Tuesday, 7:48 PM. Outside of West Saffron City.

The four approach the outskirts of the City, some with pokemon out of their balls. The sun is still higher in the sky but is slowly descending behind them, causing the shadows in front of them to grow larger by the second.

"Alrighty guys, let's find a cheap-o hotel to stay at for the next few nights." Jacob looks down at Heidi his old guide to the Kanto region.

"Huh, what? I dunno, I just know the one next to the SilphCo. building but it's kinda expensive."

"We can afford to splurge a little, huh? We can all just rent one room and share two beds, it'll probably come with breakfasts too if it's that expensive." As John was pulling out his wallet to inspect his money count, they spotted a figure pacing near the gate leading into Saffron City, a Porygon 2 floating around him.

"You think he might be with Team Rocket? Scouting the area?" Jacob skeptically looks at Len, taking the carefulness into consideration but judging his question to be a stupid one.

"Why would a Rocket Member be walking around in broad daylight obviously looking suspicious by pacing near the gate? Maybe he's waiting for a date?" The group takes a better look at the kid, baggy sweatpants, in the summer heat, a graphic black T-shirt with a golden Gyrados on it, and a medium sized backpack like the rest of the travelers are carrying.

"He's not very handsome, I dunno who would wanna date him!"

"Maybe that's why she hasn't come yet Heidi." John laughs at his own joke as Jacob approaches him, his curiosity about the normal type pokemon overcoming his curiosity about the trainer himself.

"Yo, who's back did ya break to get a pokemon like that?"

"Oh, Porygon? I've had him for a while, I don't even remember when I got him it was so long ago. You like Porygons?"

"Well I'm more of a Normal-type man in general, I've always wanted a Porygon but I could never get enough coins at the Celadon Game Corner to win one. You like Normal-types?"

"Well not particularly, I just like cool looking pokemon in general." The boy notices the floating Metang behind his new acquaintance. "Hey, what's that? I thought you liked Normal-types!"

"I like them just as much as I like Steel-types! They're both the coolest if you ask me."

"Talk about polar opposites. Say, where'd you get that anyway? It's not native to Kanto."

"I have a friend in Lillycove City that sent it to me. He knew Steven Stone was my favorite trainer and sent me a Beldum, Steven's favorite pokemon. You know about Steven, right?"

"Oh better than you would think!" The boy starts laughing as other members of the group start to chime in.

"What do you mean by that?" Len asks extremely sarcastically.

"Well the dude's been my brother for the past 16 years so I guess you could say I know him better than any of you," he started chuckling to himself.

Jacob began laughing, "Yeah right! What would the great Steven Stone's brother be doing in Saffron City?" He continued to laugh harder than he probably should be as the boy begins to answer.

"Stone, Roy Stone. Allow me to demonstrate my skills." A Blaziken appears standing next to him, having just materialized from its ball. "Not now Torchie, you're strong against both his favorite types, so I'll be using Porygon 2." The cybernetic bird swings around in front of his owner, challenging Jacob and his Metang.

"Oh, you wanna fight? Okay, loser buys the winner dinner."

"He readies himself behind his floating steel head, in front is a boy claiming to be Steven Stone's brother behind his Porygon 2. An epic battle of almost fully evolved pokemon is about to unfold."

"Is that all you're going to do Len? Be the commentator?"

"I'm entertained by it, aren't you John?"

"Well you're missing the starting blows."

During the exchange Metang had already landed a Zen Headbutt which was countered by a close-range Shockwave. The warning blows were effective as from then on both trainers were somewhat cautious. Metang had used Confusion only to have it blasted away by a Signal Beam attack, which forced Metang to stutter back. It charged forward looking to land a Metal Claw, which was easily dodged and challenged with a Swift. It didn't do much but little hits would always take its toll near the end. It Locked-on, making sure its next attack would hit, but before it could launch its sure-fire attack a Bullet Punch interrupted it, which was followed up by a Calm Mind move, so when the Discharge was launched it did just a bit less damage.

Agility boosted the Metang's speed greatly and it was noticeable because the Porygon 2 continuously missed blow after blow, forcing itself to use protect to defend itself from a Thunderpunch attack. At this range it was able to easily Lock-on again, as it fired a Tri-attack, which had partially frozen one of Metang's arms, slowing it back to normal speed. A Bullet Punch attack which had barely missed a dodging Porygon 2 broke the ice quickly, and Metang was back up to speed. It was able to come close and land a debilitating Meteor Mash attack, which allowed, once again, for Porygon 2 to Lock-on to its target. Its final attack of the battle would be a Zap Cannon, fired quickly at its foe who could not dodge it no matter how fast it tried to duck out of the way. Another last-second Calm Mind move was enough to save it from fainting straight out from the attack, but it took a huge toll on the Metang, who, along with its opponent, were visually spent.

"Let's end this in a draw for now, I can't have my pokemon getting too beaten up now." 'Roy' had returned his Porygon 2 to its ball, the Blaziken next to him nodding in approval of the battle.

"You're right, we got some big stuff to get ready for." Jacob returns his Metang to its Timer ball, his friends surprised at his abilities.

"Big stuff like what?"

"You know, challenging Sabrina!" His alibi was an obvious excuse for any trainer to be visiting the City at any time, so 'Roy' had accepted it and introduced himself, although nobody believed him 100% when he said his name was Roy Stone.

"I'm Jacob,"

"Heidi!"

"John."

"Leonard. Nice to meet you."

"You all too. I'm glad I met such powerful trainers today." He thought to himself that if they stayed in the city by the attack Friday, they would be able to help people as well, but he couldn't tell them about it and risk telling the police, who may have Rocket spies. He, however, was ignorant of the fact that they too were going to take part in the battle of Saffron City. They stood around and talked about pokemon for a while, also not believing in 'Roy' when he said he was from Mosdeep and personally helped Steven dig up the fossils that were to become his Armaldo and Cradily. Jacob had neglected to mention that his sister was a Gym Leader because he knew he would get the same reception from 'Roy'.

Another boy with red hair accompanied by an Alakazam approached the group after exiting the gates of Western Saffron, "Roy, it's time to go." He completely ignored the group of 4 by them, doing so on purpose to not reveal any more about what's to happen.

"Ugh, fine Mike. But I'm never going to get fully used to that Teleporting thing." He waves to his new friends, "See you guys later, good luck with Sabrina!" They disappeared in a flash of purple together.

"That was kinda strange."

"It's whatever, let's just go find a hotel." With these words Len lazily started walking towards the gate into the city, his friends following closely behind.


	42. Ch 42: The Psychic

Chapter 42 The Psychic

Wednesday, 11:34 AM. Central Saffron City.

"No Heidi, we are not going shopping at a time like this! You remember what happened last time we went shopping here!" Jacob reminisces about how he first met Heidi and then how she battled a woman for a snow globe. "It's our job to convince Sabrina to help us on Friday against the Rockets, not buy more useless crap that gets lost in your backpack then eventually ends up at my house. That guest bedroom is practically yours now!"

"Ugh, fiiiiiiiiiine." The two continue walking in the direction of the gym where Sabrina will most likely be taking challenges for the day, so they figure they'll watch and wait until after she's done to approach her about help. John and Len are wandering about Saffron scouting the lay of the land, probably looking at places Rocket grunts will try to invade or come out of when the attack starts. They've also considered they would come in by helicopter to invade the upper floors quickly as well.

As the boy and small girl approach the gym there's a tall woman with long green hair and gold eyes standing at the entrance, with her Alakazam alongside her. She approaches the two, "Jacob, Heidi, I knew you would be coming and my answer is yes, I'll help you repel the Rockets, but know that they will most likely bring Dark and Bug-type pokemon to counter my Psychics." The two look at her questioningly, wondering 'did that just happen?' Then Heidi decides, for fun, to test her.

"Ok, if you _are_ lady Sabrina then-"

"A Pichu eating apple pie, are you finished testing me?" Heidi's jaw drops as Sabrina read her mind before she even had a chance to think about what to test her with.

"I apologize for her, she's not the brightest when it comes to etiquette." Jacob extends a hand in greeting to the Gym Leader in front of him. "It's nice to meet you!" He gives her a smile while her expressionless face never changes.

"Likewise." She leads the two into her gym. "As powerful as my psychic abilities are, and my predicting you arriving here, I cannot accurately predict what will happen the day of the attack." This causes a great deal of concern for Jacob, while Heidi is just bobbing along admiring Sabrina's gym. "Don't be too alarmed, this has happened in the past. Mostly over trivial matters such as the number of people I'll face on a certain day or when another Gym Leader will visit. I see you all surviving so there's nothing to worry about." She leads them into a back room of her gym, past the battle area that they first walked into.

She pulls from a drawer a case with four brightly polished Marsh Badges, and hands the case to Jacob. "This is for your efforts on Friday. You all fight valiantly and as a reward I want to give these to you before I'm unable to. I know you're fighting in the league challenge as well and that you want to replace this girl's grandfather as Gym Leader, and you can't enter the tournament without these." Jacob gives a pin to Heidi, and puts one in his case. The other two go in the small compartment of his backpack so they don't get lost within it. "And Heidi, do not release your Arcanine on Friday. Keep its ball somewhere safe."

"But, why?"

"I see your Arcanine being taken. Just don't use him, I'm warning you as a teammate now. Do **not **let him out of his pokeball." Heidi pulls out her ball and looks down at it. Heeding Sabrina's warning, she gives the pokeball to Jacob.

"Keep this in your backpack."

"I think you should keep it with you. Just keep it deep in your pack in case something happens." The two exchange looks and look at Sabrina.

"I see many different possible futures but the one that stands out most is when you use Arcanine. Not using him is the safest way, giving the ball to Jacob is just as safe as a measure because in all other possibilities you are fine. It ranges from your Eevee willingly touching the firestone you stole and evolving, or Riolu learning a move it shouldn't purely in its will to protect you, or you realizing you accidentally brought your Torkoal ball when you thought you brought Noctowl."

Heidi gasps and pulls out her other three balls, realizing now that her Premier ball is not among them.

"Now you know not to back in the darkness." Sabrina cracks a small smile and giggles only for a split second, then changes back to her expressionless stare. "Torkoal is more powerful than you think, but like I said before, be careful. There are some things even I can't see."

The three walk out of the gym and proceed to the hotel the group is staying at. They see their other two partners standing outside, half expecting the other two to meet them there as well. They aren't very surprised when Sabrina is among them because they expected her to help but what she says to them is what surprises them.

"I dislike you both. Don't expect me to trust you in this battle." The two look at each other like they had just accidentally insulted her dead mother. "Using Dark-types, and Bug-types, disgusting." Her hatred is understandable considering Dark and Bug Psychic, but it's a little immature for a Gym Leader to act this way, Jacob thought. She smirks, "Don't take me too seriously, I have a sense of humor." Now realizing what she meant they both just sigh.

* * *

Wednesday, 8:12 PM, Abandoned Rocket Base.

The one girl of the group didn't exactly feel comfortable in such small spaces surrounded by three guys, but it was remedied by the fact that if any of them did anything Len would kill them all. Alexandra played with her Azumarill in a makeshift guest room the three guys put together just for her... because she _is_ a girl. "I don't know if I'm ready for a battle this big Azu," the Azumarill smiles and gives her a pat on the shoulder assuring her they would be fine.

"I'm thankful for Roy letting his Blaziken help me, but I just don't want to be too much of a burden to the rest of the team, this is so different than what I thought pokemon was all about." Her Azumarill nuzzles its head against her arm, letting her owner hug her squishy frame.

"You'll be fine, Torchie will make sure of it." Roy was passing the open door with his Blaziken while Alexandra was speaking to her pokemon. "Even if you can't battle he knows how to handle himself, and he's much smarter than the average pokemon, he knows to protect you and Nidoqueen too."

She smiles, "Thanks, I needed that." She stands up, gives Roy a hug, and joins the other two boys in what is now dubbed the planning room, followed closely by her Azumarill, to Mike and Bill discussing various tactics they can employ from their respective points.

"No Bill, you can't just burn everything you see to the ground!"

"It's not my fault if a stray ember lands on some dry leaves in the middle of the woods!" The two continue to argue over burning things to the ground purely for effect, while the other two enter the room.

"What are you jackasses going on about?!"

"This dumbass wants to burn Saffron down!"

"I'm just saying if something happens to be caught on fire then it's not my fault that a Rocket's pokemon was in front of it when I commanded a Flamethrower attack!"

"The fire department will be busy enough watching for explosives in other parts of the city, they can't afford to spend their time watering plants because you set them on fire."

"I'm not saying I'll go out of my way to burn things down! I'm just saying that if something happens to catch on fire then it won't be my fault! They could have Fire-type pokemon too!"

The two continue to argue over the trivial matter of who sets what on fire, while the minutes pass until the Rockets attack Saffron City.


	43. Ch 43: Disarming & The Last Night

Author's Note: Still looking for OCs! I know more than three people are subscribed to my story! hahaha, well whatever, make me work more! GOD! So here's 43, I hoped you liked the pre-event arc!

Chapter 43 Disarming and The Last Night.

Thursday, Sometime during the early morning. Abandoned Rocket Base

"Hey, Gligar! Wanna come play with me and Torchie?" A small purple creature with little blue wings glides out from the tree line, meeting a small boy and his Torchic. They exchange giggling greetings and begin to play a game of tag, in which the Fire-type was it. Scurrying about, the three having fun, like any normal day. Tag, now the Gligar was it. Scurrying after his friend, he tripped and had cut its knee. Close to bawling, the Gligar's eyes started to water immensely, and before it could release the waterworks his friend comes over to comfort him.

"It'll be fine Gligar, we just gotta put a band-aid on it and you'll be fine!" The small purple pokemon smiled as the boy had gripped its claw and walked it back to his house. "Mommy! I need a band-aid!"

"What's wrong hun? Did you scrape yourself?" A medium sized woman with auburn hair to her shoulders approached with a box of the medical supplies when she sees the two pokemon alongside the boy. "Oh Roy! You know not to bring your pokemon inside without washing off first! How many times have I told you that?"

"But Steven brings his pokemon inside!"

"His pokemon aren't dirty wilds that track mud in!" The boy looks down at his feet, his shoes dirty, as well as the feet of Torchic and Gligar.

"I'm sorry mommy…"

"Here, just go outside and fix up your friend there. Ugh, now I have to clean the floor over here." The woman pushes her son out of the house, readying a broom.

"Sorry Gligar, mommy doesn't like you for some reason." He looks down at his now saddened friend, and shoots him a smile. Gligar smiles back, but continues to frown, looking at the cut on his knee. Roy quickly pulls out a water bottle and a band-aid, first squirting water on the wound, then quickly applying the sticky gauze. "This'll make you better! Don't worry!" The boy smiles again before the scenery starts to fade away.

"Uhh…" The clock next to him says 3:50. "Shit… I hate that." Roy starts walking around the guest room accommodating Bill and his Ninetales. He wanders into the kitchen area-

"-Yeah, it's been troublesome but I can understand why you feel uncomfortable here." It was Mike's voice. Still up for some reason or another talking to-

"It's just been weird though," it was Alexandra's voice. "I've never been away from home for so long, let alone done any real battling before. I know I agreed to help you guys but… I, I just don't know if I can now."

"It's ok, I understand. I never really wanted to battle like this too. My father tried to force me to early on, and I did, in hate. I stole pokemon, battled with them, tried to defeat my rival… I don't know why, I never wanted to battle, but I did, and I feel really bad about what I did then. But now I know what a battle is really about. It's about bonding with your partner as they protect you, and you protect them."

He looks down at his ball. "Feraligatr was the one I stole, but he loves me anyway, and now that I know we fight for each other, not for my own personal gain, or for my father's selfishness. My pokemon love me, and I love them, and we show each other that by fighting with our all."

Alexandra smiles at his innocent side that he's probably shown nobody else. She was one so disarming that anyone could open up to her and feel secure. "That made me feel a lot better." She smiles up at him again. "Thank you." She gives him a hug and walks out of the kitchen back to her room.

"Heh, I just said something stupid. Jesus I need to get a grip on myself, I can't let my guard down now." He gets himself a cup of coffee and a muffin from the fridge. "Damn she's a cute girl, heheheh… Not like I'd have a chance. A girl like her definitely has a boy she likes-"

"Is that what we are worrying about now?" Roy enters the room, a smug look on his face.

"How much did you hear?"

It was obvious he needed to lie, "I came in around 'Damn she's a cute girl'. I didn't know you had a weakness for cuties!"

"Wouldn't any guy? Jeez, I'm going to bed!"

"Sweet dreams!" Roy laughed as his partner as he left the room exasperated and embarrassed. Torchie let himself out of the pokeball always on Roy's person and scolded him.

_"That was wrong and you know it."_

Roy grabs a muffin for himself, "I'm just trying to lighten the mood, it's just a little camaraderie."

_"No, that was just cruel. You shouldn't make fun of people like that."_

"Oh come on now, it was just being silly, nothing more."

_"He doesn't think so. If you haven't noticed he doesn't want anyone to know his true self."_

"Yeah, whatever, maybe I'll apologize."

_"Good, remember to get some good sleep too. You gotta be rested up for Friday."_

"I know I know, good night." He returns Torchie to his ball and returns to his room.

* * *

Thursday, 9:22 PM, Saffron City Hotel.

"Hey, Heidi."

"Yeah bro?"

"You ready?"

"I'm ready. Are you?"

"Of course!"

"Good, we gotta be strong,"

"For the people and pokemon we love."

"You got it girl." The two share a smile and walk out of the elevator into the lobby to join their three comrades in planning.

"Okay, I see what you want to do, we have to find this Antonio and we need to question him about the funds being poured into 'Misc. Projects'. Why do you think that it's suspicious John?"

"I was thinking-"

"It's doubtful SilphCo. is under the influence of another crime organization. Plasma is busy in Unova, Galactic is currently peaceful in Sinnoh, and Magma and Aqua haven't been heard from since the weather trio event 5 years ago."

"What was the point in asking me what I thought?"

"So I could read your mind and answer. If you have it in your head I can see it, otherwise I don't know what you want to do."

"Stop being so smug. You're a Gym Leader aren't you? You should act like it."

"Sorry I'm not kind and gentle like Erika is, I'll try to be nicer from now on." The sarcasm in her voice was extremely noticeable.

"Would you two stop it? We need to work together tomorrow, freaking act like it." Jacob's scolding was enough to silence the two of them.

"Well, I'll help repel Rockets within the building, I'll be on the top floor, making sure their entrance from the rooftops doesn't happen." Sabrina gets up and walks out of the hotel, presumably back to her gym.

"Well okay, me and Heidi will search the fourth and fifth floors for Antonio. We'll bring him to you if we find him."

"Leave the searching to us, we'll find Fabiano and interrogate him on our own, you take care of the Rockets on the lower floors and we'll be fine."

"Ok Len, I got ya. Don't do anything stupid alright?"

"No no, nothing big, don't worry, he'll come out with all his appendages!"

"If one finger is missing I'll give you a baby Absol, and wait until you get emotionally attached to it, then I'm going to carve my initials into its stomach and let you cry over it for a few months and make it so every time you look at it you'll see nothing but my face, then when you're just about to get over your trauma I'm going to release it back into the wild and burn down the-"

"Ok I get it, one hair out of place and I'm dead, I get it!"

"Well we need him to not fall in Rocket hands, so when you find him let me know, I'll have Metang and Magneton fly me and him down to the ground while we escape."

"Should we have a plan in case we get separated or something?"

"Yeah, sure Len, if we get separated… we meet in Viridian within 30 days. My house is way too close and mom will have already expected us to be in Cerulean by now… actually…" Jacob runs over to the telephone and dials a number. "Hey mom! Just calling to let you know that we are on our way through Mt. Moon tomorrow and we probably won't be able to contact you for a few days or so; we won the Marsh Badge the other day and we are in a Cerulean Hotel right now. So I'll call you after we win the Earth Badge!... Sooo don't be expecting a call for a while, hahahaha. Alright well we're going to bed, Mt. Moon tomorrow, see ya!"

"Well now our alibi is set, nice thought Jake."

"Well, ya know!"

"I'm actually getting pretty tired, and we need to rest up for tomorrow."

"You're right, let's go."

The four get up and make way for the elevator, not knowing tonight would be the last night they spend together for a while.


	44. Ch 44: And so it Begins

Author's note: Still looking for OCs. and when you give them too me DESCRIBE WHAT HE/SHE LOOKS LIKE. I've already gotten 3 where they have a full team but no face!

Chapter 44 And so it Begins…

Friday, 8:57AM, Abandoned Rocket base.

"Are we all ready?.."

"You know it Mike!"

"You're more excited than usual Bill."

"Today I'm going to have a big battle with my sweetie, of course I'm excited Roy!"

"Because the reason we are fighting isn't important or anything." Roy chuckles and turns to Alexandra, handing her a pokeball. "Blaziken will come out when we get there, he knows what to do."

"Thanks." She smiles and tucks the ball in her pocket. "I trust him to keep me safe."

"A-and, uh," Mike hands her a small bag. "I made lunch in case you get hungry so, here, uh…" Roy giggles to himself, elbowing Bill so he notices what's going on. They both start to chuckle lightly. "SHUT UP! I made some for you two so don't go thinking weird things!"

"Thank you ever so much Mr. Mikey!" Bill gives his friend a hug and a fake kiss on the cheek, forcing Mike to push him away.

"God, what the hell is wrong with you!?"

"What? You don't appreciate my love!? You're so hurtful!" Bill begins to fake a cry, "Oh you man!" He lightly slaps Mike across the face and starts fake crying into the fur of his beloved Ninetales. "So cruel!"

"Would you get serious already!?"

"Calm down Mike, he's always like this. It may not look it but he's taking this very seriously." He pats Bill on the back, "Don't worry buddy, there are many others out there who'll appreciate your love."

"Aw, thanks!" Bill stops his fake tears and gets up, ready to go. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

"Fine," Mike commands Alakazam to teleport them each to their pre-planned spots, ready to take on the battles of the day.

* * *

Friday, 9:13 AM, SilphCo. building lobby.

"I'll be on the top floor if you need me." Sabrina enters the elevator and hits the button labeled "15" and is on her way up. Because SilphCo. is mostly offices people can come and go as they please after a light security check at the front door. There are only a few floors off limits to civilians that aren't accessible by the elevator, those floors being 6, 7, and the three basement floors. Those have extra security and need a key-card to get into. With that, the group approaches the main desk and their silent unanimous vote elects Jacob to ask the question: "Uh, is, uh, what floor can I find Antonio Fabiano on?"

"Oh, he works on the 7th floor, I can page him for you if you need me to, I just need to tell him who's calling."

"Relative-"

"Friend-" The simultaneous answer from Jacob and Len clashed.

"Relative _of_ a friend, heheheh…" The odd laugh afterwards didn't help their cause.

"Okay? Hold on just a moment. Oh, and you'll have to leave your pokeballs here, it's prohibited by staff and visitors to bring pokemon inside the building unless they are directly related to their work stations." Their suspicious activity didn't prompt the woman behind the counter to call security or anything, and she came with the verdict soon afterwards. "I'm sorry, he's currently busy with a project, his next scheduled break is at 10:30, can you wait until then?"

"I don't think so miss, you see, something bad is going to happen today and-" At that moment the ground started to shake and all sounds were beginning to be drowned out by the sound of helicopters swarming from all directions. Jacob runs outside and sees at least seven choppers circling the SilphCo. Building, one of them landing on top. People around started to run around, screaming, as ropes were lowered at various lengths with men sliding down breaking into windows on all floors of the building. People began running away from and out of the SilphCo. Building, nearly pushing Jacob to the ground as Heidi runs over to him.

"Big bro its starting!"

"I know! Quick, Len, John, go find Antonio! Heidi and I will go up to the third and fourth floors to defeat the Rockets up there! Hurry!" Mass hysteria is breaking loose as people begin to flee from the city, or towards the exits at least; Jacob knew they would be stopped by Rocket troops not letting people escape. He dashed back into the building as people flood the stairwell trying to get out, when a few men and women release their pokemon inside the building.

"ALL RIGHT NOBODY MOVE! NOBODY GETS OUT OR COMES IN THE BUILDING, DO YOU HEAR ME?" Her Charizard spit fire into the air above the people as they all immediately obeyed and stopped moving for the door. Well, the other reason being why nobody left is because a Slaking was blocking the doorways out of the building and it didn't look like it wanted to move any time soon.

"I'll take care of these guys, you go upstairs and stop them from kidnapping people!" Heidi looked determined to stop the Charizard as she threw up a ball releasing her Torkoal. She commanded the people to get back and to not get in the way as she challenged the woman with the Charizard.

"Sit back down little girl if you don't want to get hurt!" The Charizard sent a Flamethrower at the feet of the Torkoal, which didn't move from its spot, as well as the little girl commanding it. Suddenly a Great ball with a Dewott appearing from inside of it stands alongside the Torkoal. A businessman stands up and walks over to stand next to the little girl defending him.

"As much as I could get fired for something like this, I knew sneaking Manny to work would be useful one day." The Dewott squirts a Water Gun at the feet of the Charizard, forcing it to stumble back a few steps. "I can't let you defend us all on your own now can I?" He smiles at the little girl who smiles back and begins to command her new pokemon.

* * *

"Ugh, so difficult." The words of the Gym Leader standing on the roof next to her Alakazam and her Claydol were bored and lethargic. She pointed at the helicopter attempting to land on the roof, which was enveloped in blue aura and sent flying like a bullet towards the thick woods north west of the city by her Alakazam. She couldn't risk the helicopter crashing somewhere within the city on top of civilians. She points at another helicopter flying around the building which is slowly crushed within itself, and sent flying to the same area where the other helicopter was sent. A man who had jumped from the helicopter that was crushed lands on the roof across from where Sabrina is standing.

"Oh, Lady Sabrina, surprise to see you here."

"I foresaw your coming Archie. Why did you ever join up with Team Rocket? I thought covering the world in water was a great idea." The sarcasm in her voice sends the former Team Aqua leader in a rage.

"I may not be the leader anymore but I am a high-ranking official!" He throws out two balls revealing a Mightyena and a Cacturne.

"Dark types, how I despise them." A Focus Blast from Alakazam is sent forward with extreme speed, grazing Mightyena slightly then passing by and cutting a few ropes which caused a few Rocket Grunts to fall back down to earth. "You still don't stand a chance though."

* * *

By the time the two had reached the seventh floor, the door for the card key had already been blown in. Len and John dashed forward past disheveled rooms with unconscious scientists and engineers everywhere, until they ran to the largest room where the man they were looking for was being held up against the wall by an Arbok, a woman with crimson hair fiercely asking questions.

"Let go of him!" A Typhlosion flies forward charging at the Arbok, knocking it back, away from Antonio.

"What pests. I didn't expect resistance of this kind." The woman was wearing a grey outfit, much like the other Grunts were wearing, except not black…

"There are lots of things you don't expect Jessie, hmmhmmhmm." A man with a rose in one hand and a pokeball in another with purple hair down to his shoulders also wearing a grey suit, like his female counterpart, appears from the other side of the room. He drops his ball and a large Weezing comes out.

"Don't be too hard on her James, we all knows dere were some risks involved with dis operation. Just take the guy and go Jessie, we can handle dese guys." A Meowth, walking on its two hind legs, and talking to his partner, approaches the two trainers, extremely surprised at the sight of a walking, talking pokemon. "They don't look so tough. Look! Dey're afraid of something as odd as me! I don't think they'd even be able to handle you alone James." The man that was being held up against the wall before now scurries over behind his two defenders.

"You may be right Meowth but we can't just beat them at a pokemon battle. We have to make sure they're never heard again." He drops another pokeball at his feet, a Carnivine revealing itself in a fancy motion. "Help me on this one Jessie?"

"You know I don't need any help!"

"Ooooooh! Don't get too feisty!" The jokes between the two start to annoy Len.

"Oh come on! Let's just battle already so we can save this guy ourselves!" He throws down his Great ball, his Houndour making an entrance.

"You expect to win with a little Houndour!? Against one of Giovanni's top teams!? You MUST be joking little boy!" Jessie begins to laugh regally as James joins her side across the room.

"Antonio, run down to the lobby, we have friends there who will protect you. Stay with them until we return." The man in a lab coat makes for the-

"Oh no you don't!" A Wobbuffet appears at the only entrance of the room, blocking the open doorway, the only means of escape that wasn't a broken window.

"We came here so you can't complete your little project. That's right, the Rockets know about what you're up to, and we can't let you stop us."

"You're plans will destroy the world as we know it! The only way to seal your ultimate pokemon is if we create the ultimate pokeball to capture it!"

Len interrupts, "You mean a-"

"Yes, they were trying to make a Master Ball! How preposterous is that!?" James starts laughing at the sound of their plan.

"Didn't you already have a Master Ball made?" John asks this time.

"No, that was just an upgraded Ultra Ball that had a 50% chance to capture the target. When Mewtwo was caught by Red, that was just pure dumb luck on the flip of a coin. We were trying to make a ball that has a 100% chance to capture any pokemon possible."

"Den we found out about it and came to take you so it couldn't progress." The Meowth was speaking again, it was creepy how articulate its vocabulary was, despite its lisp.

"Enough talking, we're here to make sure you can't take him! Houndour! Fire Blast!" The burst of flames was directed straight at James and his pokemon. James moved behind his Weezing which took the hit full burst and didn't have a single scorch on it.

"You think our pokemon are that weak!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You really have no idea what you've gotten yourself into!" His Weezing released a pitch black smokescreen from its mouth which enveloped the whole side of the room John and Len were standing on. It clouded their vision and their lungs as the room around them became darker and darker. Weezing released another gas, this time purple, meant to poison the two trainers and their pokemon so they wouldn't be able to leave.

Len took his last command of their short battle: "Flamethrower!"

"Len, NO!"


	45. Ch 45: The Four Defenders

Chapter 45 The Four Defenders

Walkie-talkies, connecting the four members of the teams on the outskirts of the City were all that was needed in their operation for the first twenty minutes or so. After helicopters flew in from all directions and circled the SilphCo. Building, nothing happened at their appointed locations. They sat and wait for about 15 minutes as people started to make exits out of the city. As the first person walked through the gate, the team of Rocket grunts, at least six at each exit, save Alexandra's luckily, which only had four.

"Alright Mantine, Hydro Pump." The torrents of water being released from its mouth wiped out four of the six members standing there, knocking them backwards into trees and down the road, knocking them unconscious from the pain. The other two release their pokemon in a flash as more people start to crowd up behind their lone defender.

"Let's have a Tri-Attack and an Ice Beam." The pokemon's moves were too fast for the Rockets to handle, as a Tri-Attack nailed the Dodrio square in its round body, and an Ice Beam enveloped and completely froze solid a Dragonair. The Rockets, not knowing what to do, simply return their fainted pokemon to their balls and run like hell in the opposite direction, leaving their fallen friends to the police later. The people behind Roy cheered loudly and thanked him as they ran past him, looking for shelter away from the city under siege.

At that moment, while Roy was staring up at the building, two helicopters fewer circling round and large beams of light, water, and fire being spewed from the rooftops, the entirety of the seventh floor lights up in a flash and explodes, launching five objects straight into the sky outside of the city and launching five more into a house close to where Roy was. His curiosity had gotten the better of him as he ran towards the landing point on the near side of the city.

* * *

"Ready Honey?"

_"Ready Billy."_

Whispers of "Who's he talking to," and "What a weird person," flood both sides of the large trainer as people cower behind him from the Rockets and the Rockets chuckle at him from behind their pokemon. Six large and threatening pokemon, a Slowbro being the most threatening to the Ninetales, stands across from Bill.

"Fire Spin, and make it BIIIIIIIIIG!" Just like he said, the Fire Spin the Ninetales conjured up was large enough to encircle every Rocket and their pokemon. Some were frightened, others were smug and confident, but the confidence was lost when Ninetales jumped over the fire, her trainer through the flames, and a Heat Wave came over all of them. The only pokemon left standing in the ring of fire was the Slowbro, who had seemingly felt nothing from either attack. The Rockets' whose pokemon had fainted were beginning to panic, but the one commanding the Water-type was smiling. A Psychic threw the Ninetales through the fiery barrier and it was followed up by a Scald attack. It did nothing more than put out the fire between Slowbro and its opponent.

As Ninetales came back into the fray hurling a Will-o-Wisp at its foe, the Slowbro hurled another Scald attack. The water overpowered the fire and made contact with Bill's back, shielding his Ninetales from harm.

_"How many times have I told you not to do that! Now you might be burned!"_

"I told you I'd do anything for you! Now go out and surprise me!"

_"You know I will, just for you hun."_ The Ninetales hops onto the back of her trainer, slightly burned from the previous attack, and a dark, emanating light begins to engulf her. The pokemon releases its Dark Pulse out in all directions, concentrating its power straight at the Slowbro, knocking it backwards onto its tail. It takes its time standing back up, turns around, tilts its head at its opponent, and falls forward, flat on its face. The Rocket returns its now fainted advantage to its ball and spits at the ground in front of him, the fire dying down from the Fire Spin earlier. The Rockets run back towards the underground tunnel house, retreating into its depths through the broken door.

The crowd behind him cheers and hollers at their savior, much like the scene at the Western gate where Roy was as successful. As people frantically run by towards Vermillion City, a large flash of light causes Bill and several dozen citizens to turn around. The explosion on the seventh floor of the SilphCo. Building launches five objects overhead, it can be seen that two are people and three are pokemon, screaming something as they fly above them, something relevant to 'Blasting Off Again' followed by the cry of a scared Wobbuffet, Bill notices five other figures go through the roof of a house, near the western gate of the city. Assuming his job here is done he calls to his partner as they run towards the landing site.

* * *

"Well, well, what do we have here? I never thought I'd be seeing your face again kid."

"There's a reason why I never joined you foul scum, mostly it was because my father was such an arrogant piece of work that I had no choice but to scorn his deeds."

"You'd think the son of the leader of the organization that'll take over the world would want to be a part of it!"

"I am NOT that man's son! I hate every fiber of that person's being and do not want to be related to him even through words!"

"Hahaha! Hear that boys? Silver has some daddy drama!"

"SHUT UP!" The boy known as 'Mike' but referred to as 'Silver' threw out all three pokeballs, his Alakazam, Meganium, and Feraligatr ready to take on the eight Rockets in front of him. Each one launching a powerful attack that each took out one opponent pokemon each, bringing the numbers down to five somewhat powerful pokemon versus three much more powerful tanks. The Meganium's Razor Leaf attack was able to hit all four of the opponents as Feraligatr used a Surf attack. It was countered and taken down by a Serperior using Leaf Storm, leaving the pokemon count at 4 weakened pokemon to 2 strong ones. Alakazam's Flamethrower made quick work of the Serperior while the Meganium continuously used Razor Leaf to combat the large numbers against it. The opponents were considerably weakened but the numbers were beginning to overwhelm Mike and his pokemon.

Alakazam used a Psychic attack to push the Tentacruel into another opponent's Miltank, but it dodged while using its Rollout attack towards the Meganium. It was too slow to dodge and took considerably heavy damage. It's Sunny Day straight into a Solar Beam wasn't enough to stop the Miltank's attack, but it got past it and hit the Salemence dead-on. Although not very effective it still did a lot of damage. Alakazam launched a few Psybeams at its opponents, weakening them further, but that triggered Blastoise's Torrent ability, causing it to go insane with power. As Hydro Pumps were fired at Mike's general direction with much more force than normal, the once-thought-to-be-downed Feraligatr Shields its friends from a direct hit.

At the opportunity, Meganium hurls another Solar Beam at the enraged Blastoise, taking it down, while the Salemence and Feraligatr go at each other trying to hit with Dragon Claws and Ice Fangs, neither one being able to land a blow. Meganium launches one final Solar Beam at the Tentacruel as the sun dies down, and it's a direct hit. It's still standing though which causes Mike to start panicking. The Salemence lands a Dragon Claw which definitely finishes off his Feraligatr, and Miltank is ready to Rollout again, the Tentacruel is weak but still managing, and the other two pokemon are fainted as well.

Meganium prepares an Earthquake as Alakazam Teleports right up to the Salemence, landing an Ice Beam at up-close and personal range, but the Protect was put up just in time to block the powerful beam and a close-range Thunder finishes Alakazam. Meganium was backed into a corner versus the three powerful pokemon. An explosion on the seventh floor of the building behind him serves as a distraction for Meganium to hit the ground hard, causing another earthquake attack, this finishes the Tentacruel but the Salemence hovers above the ground to dodge it.

A crack opens up the ground underneath the Dragon as a giant vine reaches up and grabs it. Vines come up from the ground everywhere as they all entangle the last two opposing pokemon. The vines continue to grow as they squeeze and whip around the Miltank and Salemence, violently causing them to faint. The Frenzy Plant attack had done its work in defeating its opponents as the Meganium stands tall over his fallen foes. Feraligatr and Alakazam are returned to their respective balls as the Rockets retreat out of sight. Mike hops up on his Meganium and commands it to run towards the eastern gate, where Alexandra is defending as well.

* * *

The girl standing between her Nidoqueen and her friend's Blaziken faces only four Rocket grunts, each with a powerful pokemon of their own: Emboar, Beedrill, Stoutland and Shiftry. The Blaziken immediately goes into action, quickly going after the Beedrill with a Blaze Kick fierce enough to take it down in one blow, but it dodges just flying out of reach. Now behind enemy lines the Emboar stands in front of it to challenge it as if to say, "I'm the better Fire-Fighting-type!" While the two go at it firing different combinations of melee moves and ranged Special Attacks, Nidoqueen readies itself for commanding. The nervous and frightened girl standing behind it manages to stutter, "R-rock Slide!"

Rocks start shooting up from the ground high into the sky, reaching a height possibly 40 or 50 feet into the air. Some combine to form bigger rocks and others start breaking apart, then they all come crashing down onto the three foes standing across from it, nearly taking out the Beedrill right out. The other two pokemon retaliate with a Razor Wind and a Crunch attack. They both do minimal damage as the veteran Nidoqueen shakes the Stoutland off of it up into the air; She begins to act on her own, opening its jaws and clenching them together to crush its opponent with a Poison Fang attack. Nidoqueen violently shakes its head back and forth and spits out the Stoutland, completely broken from the attack. The Nidoqueen uses Double Kick to launch the dog-like pokemon straight at the Beedrill, which barely dodges and prepares a Twinneedle attack.

Suddenly an Emboar flies straight into the Beedrill, knocking it out indefinitely. The Emboar tries to recover but the Blaziken comes flying back in trying to land a Focus Punch, narrowly missing its target. At the confusion Shiftry uses Extrasensory, tossing the Nidoqueen into the air, then hitting it powerfully with a Seed Bomb as it falls back to earth. The once powerful Poison-type has just lost its luster and is now showing its age. It stands back up holding its back and growls loudly, threateningly into the air as an explosion from the middle of the city averts everyone's attention. The Blaziken takes the opportunity to hurl an Overheat attack, followed by its signature Sky Uppercut at its opponent Emboar, nearly knocking it out. Shiftry realizes what's going on and hits Blaziken hard with another Extrasensory attack, hurling it at the Nidoqueen. The two vs. two battle is quickly turned into two on one when a last second Bide from Shiftry intercepts the Crunch, and hurls double the damage straight back at the old pokemon. It was clearly outmatched overall, although it had the most strength of all the standing pokemon.

As Alexandra returned it she hesitantly, but willingly reached for her pokeball with Bellossom inside. Torchie shakes its head at her as to say, "Let me handle this," and she retreats a few steps back. It was now the weakened Blaziken against Emboar and Shiftry of equal fatigue, but none of the participants of the battle looked like they wanted to back down.


	46. Ch 46: Strength

Chapter 46 Strength

"Alrighty Mister! Try to keep up!" Heidi's Torkoal hurled a Flamethrower at the Slaking, but it hardly even moved, seemingly not feeling the attack.

"HAHAHAHA you think you'll get past Slaking like that little girl?!"

"You know I will!" Torkoal fires an Overheat attack straight at the stomach of the Slaking, but it once again seems to do little damage. The Dewott goes into action itself, watering down the Charizard with a Water Gun attack, which forces the Fire-type to jump up and yelp in pain, hitting the ceiling and causing a small part of the second floor to cave in. A Razor Shell attack was somehow dodged in the close-quarters fighting, but it stumbled into Torkoal's Rapid Spin, causing it to tumble and fall on its back. When Dewott went back in for another Razor Shell attack it was slapped away by Charizard's giant orange tail and slammed into the wall.

"Manny!" The businessman runs over to his pokemon now lying on the ground in pain, "Manny, get up! Come on buddy!" This wakes up the Dewott enough to help Torkoal in its battle against the Lizard-pokemon, while the Slaking starts to fall asleep at its post. Heidi figures if the Charizard is defeated then the Slaking will have to battle and allow people to leave. More and more people start flooding the lobby, nearly congesting the entirety of it.

As the lobby fills the space for the battle becomes smaller and smaller, forcing Charizard into a tight corner. The Dewott runs back into action and lands a Razor Shell attack right at the neck of the Charizard finally bringing it down. Heidi turns back to the crowd of people behind her and sees a familiar face among them.

* * *

"Well Archie, are you even going to hurt one of my pokemon?"

"SHUT UP BITCH!" Archie's Cacturne immediately went in for another Needle Arm but missed once again as Alakazam Teleported away. His Mightyena also unsuccessfully tried to Bite Claydol, but it simply floated up into the air to dodge.

"You know you don't ever stand a chance of defeating me. Why not go back to Team Aqua start that crazy operation again?" Sabrina gives a smug smile that enrages the former Team Aqua leader

"You just don't get it! That organization was dead and done, then Giovanni came along and offered me some nice amounts of money and my own position as head of one of the wings. It's been a great life since then! All the money I want, all the pokemon I can control, men under my power, it's better than when I led Aqua!" His Cacturne went in for a Pin Missile which was turned away by Alakazam's Reflect. "You wouldn't understand what I went through to get back to the top!"

"You aren't at the top, you miserable man." Claydol's Ancientpower hardly missed Mightyena. The four pokemon were slowly tiring themselves out. "Haven't you learned by now you won't get anywhere with this organized crime?"

"Oh shut your trap Sabrina! You know nothing! You'll never know!" Another Mightyena Crunch attack barely scraped Alakazam, who retaliated with a close range Focus Blast. It knocked it back and as it tumbled Claydol fired a Hyper Beam at its body, critically hitting it and blasting it from the rooftop. Cacturne was finally able to land a Needle Arm on Claydol, knocking it backwards and forcing it to float over the edge of the building. "You always had it good! For some reason everyone liked you more, always getting the attention you didn't deserve!"

"Is that why you ran away? A silly inferiority complex? Please, you were weak then and you're just as weak now." Alakazam and Claydol combined Hyper Beam attacks at the Cacturne, which was hit only slightly on its side, causing it to turn and tumble away. It then enveloped itself in a blackness as it charged straight at Alakazam, hitting it full-on with a Payback, causing it to faint with that single hit.

"SHUT THE FU-" The building began rumbling and an explosion from below caused the floors underneath them to violently shake, throwing Archie and Sabrina to their knees, Cacturne loses its balance as well while Claydol is still floating safely. The ground they're standing on begins to crumble beneath them into the 15th floor. Claydol picks up its trainer and brings it over towards the former Aqua Leader, he and his Cacturne doing their best to try to stay standing atop the crumbling cement. The entire roof collapses into the floor beneath it and Archie is caught in the rubble. The floors are now collapsing in on one another as the 15th becomes the 14th, and so on. Claydol floats down to where Archie is still avoiding rubble as the building collapses floor by floor until it stops at the 11th, where the support beams can hold up the crumbling sheetrock and cement.

"Sabrina! Help me!" He reaches out a bloodied hand towards the Psychic Gym Leader.

Sabrina starts imitating the voice of a small boy, _"Don't tell me what to do!"_

Archie's eyes widen, then water, and he begins to scream, "YOU BITCH! I HOPE YOU DIE IN Afiery accident at you-" Sabrina's floating away and the sounds of the building continuously creaking and rumbling drowned out the remainder of Archie's cursing.

Sabrina looked down into the eyes of her Claydol, now floating back towards her gym, and says, "I never liked my siblings, they were always so whiny and jealous. Did you have brothers like that Claydol?" The Claydol cooed back at its owner as they continue to float away from the broken building.

* * *

"Crap! Crap! **Crap! CRAP! CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!**"

The ceiling above Jacob was suddenly blown out as he was leading remaining engineers that weren't kidnapped by Rocket already down the stairs, he had just finished the sixth floor when everything above him was blown to smithereens. He dashes down the stairs screaming, "WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE IDIOTS THINKING?!" Knowing somehow, this was Len's fault.

"What was that just now!?"

"I don't know but something tells me it has something to do with my friends!" He rushes the engineers down the remaining flights of stairs to the lobby where Heidi and a businessman were finishing a fight against the Rockets that were causing the backup along the stairwell. The Slaking was immovable and the Charizard was nearly beaten as the Dewott finally landed a Razor Shell attack to bring it down. Jacob instinctively throws out a ball with his Metang firing out on all cylinders, not missing a beat and heaving a Meteor Mash straight into the face of the Slaking, firing it straight through the glass and letting people escape the now collapsing building. From across the room Jacob yells, "Heidi! What's going on?"

"I dunno but we gotta leave!" Heidi turns to her partner for the battle, "Thanks mister! I wouldn't have won without you!"

"Heh, no problem, but let's just get out of here now!" He pushes the girl out the front door and begins to run away with the crowd of people. Heidi runs across the street with Jacob's Metang and her Torkoal to start fighting the Slaking. While Jacob runs up the Slaking goes back into its ball and the Rockets start shouting to each other, "I wasn't paid to do this! I'm out!"

"That just made our job a bit easier now." The roof began to collapse on the floors below it, and sent dust flying everywhere around the city. Jacob quickly returns Metang to its ball and starts pushing Heidi in a random direction, away from the building now falling apart above them. The Torkoal quickly follows its master as they pass a few more shops while the building collapses in on itself further, urging Jacob and Heidi to run inside a nearby store, devoid of life presumably because the people inside tried to escape the city. There is where they wait as people run by screaming, yelling, and frantically tripping over themselves while the SilphCo. building continues to come down. Heidi began shivering in fright, violently, afraid for her life what would come next. Jacob put a hand on her head and quietly said, "Be strong Heidi, be strong." Her shivering stopped but his tears just began.

* * *

The explosion caused by the mix of fire and poisonous gasses was enough to annihilate the entirety of the level in the building in which they were standing on. Len, John, Antonio, and their pokemon were launched with great speed from the room, over half of the western side of the city before crash landing into someone's home. They all happened to land relatively close to one another, leaving the group unseparated, in the master bedroom of someone's house. The civilians living there heard the crash and ran upstairs to find five unconscious bodies somewhat burned in their home, which was now somewhat destroyed. "Honey hurry and call an ambulance!"

"There phone lines for 911 will be too busy, we have to take them to the Hospital ourselves!"

"I'll take them!" Said the girl around 16, "I drive better than both of you so I'll take them to the hospital!"

"Don't be ridiculous honey! I'll take them!" The father begins to carry the man in the lab coat down the stairs to his car, "Dear, grab their pokemon!"

The wife tries her best to identify which pokeball belongs to the Typhlosion and luckily picks correctly as the fainted Fire-type goes back into its ball. The girl and her mother look around for the ball for the other pokemon lying there and eventually pick a great ball from Len's hand.

"Huh," the girl starts, "What a lovely ball for a Houndoom."

"No time for that! Just help me carry one of these boys downstairs!" She returns the Houndoom to its ball and puts it in her pocket with the Typhlosion's ball, seeing as they need to get to a pokemon center. The husband comes back into the room and carries the last boy downstairs as all three of them are sitting upright in the back of the car.

It's a medium sized four-door car, large enough to fit two more people in front if need be, which becomes very necessary when one large boy, built like a lumberjack and a smaller boy in sweatpants run towards the car, exclaiming those are their friends and that they need to join them on the trip to the hospital. The girl, who wanted to see the boys to the hospital had no choice but to surrender her seat to the friends of the people who crashed into her house, sighed and let them aboard. She figured, though, she'll meet them because, after all, they _were_ very cute.


	47. Ch 47: Out of Hell

Author's note: I need ONE MORE OC for the tournament! I know at least 10 people follow this and only 3 have replied to my cries for OCs! I just need one more guys! Don't you want to see your character's ass handed to them in a pokemon battle? Come oooooooooonnnnnnnnnnn.

Chapter 47 Out of Hell

"Uhh~ uhh!" Alexandra standing behind the Blaziken was scared out of her mind for fear of something happening to it; considering it was up against. Shiftry and Emboar weren't through yet, and Torchie was horribly fatigued. "Just do your best Blaziken!" Torchie nods and jumps up through the air, hurtling at high speed toward its Fire-Fighting counterpart, hitting it full-on with its High Jump Kick. The Emboar grabs the Blaziken's leg and punches it in the face with its free fist, fire spewing everywhere. The Fire Punch hurled Blaziken back in Alexandra's direction, and as it was tumbling Shiftry followed up with a harsh Razor Wind, debilitating it further. Torchie was tired beyond belief but he would not allow Alexandra to draw another pokemon.

A weakened Overheat, aimed at the Shiftry, was easily blocked by the quicker Emboar, and Blaziken was quickly running out of options. It used Bulk Up to power up its next attack, which would most likely be its last for this battle, then charged straight at the Shiftry yet again. Shiftry was also extremely tired from the long and drawn out battle, and it was showing when it tried to dodge the Blaze Kick. It could hardly tumble out of the way and the Super Effective attack took its toll, causing the Grass type to finally faint. Torchie was also down, still lying on the ground after its final attack, completely worn out and out of all power from the battle. But it didn't want to see Alexandra use another one of her pokemon, so it insisted on trying to stand back up. The Emboar saw it was out of energy anyway and went in for the kill, charging forward with a Giga Impact.

It was easily pushed off course by an incoming Razor Leaf attack, and missed the standing target entirely. It didn't do much damage, but Mike's Meganium did distract the type-advantageous Emboar. Meganium, though, was still pumped up, and had a lot of fuel left in the tank, but only a few Fire-type hits would definitely take it out. Playing cautiously, it stuck only to Razor Leaf and Vine Whip attacks, each doing minimal damage, but the wear was showing on the now extremely fatigued Emboar.

"Mike, you came to help?"

"Yeah, I finished up early and decided to see if you needed me."

"I don't, but Torchie does…" Mike looks over at the staggering Blaziken, struggling to even stand let alone move for an attack. The Emboar focuses its attention back onto the Grass-type pokemon that hit it and hurls a Flamethrower attack at it. Easily dodged, the Emboar tries again, and again, slowing down with every fiery attack launched. It's almost just as tired as Blaziken, but still able to move, as Meganium lands hit after hit on it. All are not very effective, but the small hits built up to eventually slow down the Emboar enough that it couldn't move due to its fatigue, and it collapsed. Blaziken eventually managed to walk over to the two trainers it was allied with and sat down in front of them.

"Oh, here, have this." Alexandra hands the pokemon a few Sitrus Berries, which were eaten with great gusto. Blaziken looks up and smiles at the act of kindness.

"Are you okay Alex?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." She smiles at Mike and looks back into the city, the SilphCo. Building half-collapsed, and people now running out of the city as fast as they can.

"We should go see if the other two are okay."

"Right." The four of them (Blaziken and Meganium plus the two) ran through the human traffic and into the city where the center was seemingly completely empty. They decided to go see how Roy at the Western Gate was faring when their route took them in front of the SilphCo. Building. The front door was completely shattered and the building had lost a few floors, the 7th one being completely buckled and charred from what they could see.

"We should keep moving, we don't want this coming down on us."

"Let's check inside a few houses to see if everyone is out though… just to be sure."

"Alright!" Mike's impatience was growing when they entered the first building. It was a small store, next to the SilphCo. Building, completely looted of all the items people saw useful, and thieves thought they could sell. There was broken glass everywhere and splintered wood all around them. The two went upstairs where nothing more was found except for a few pictures left behind of an old man and his family. The house was empty which was a good sign, but the chaos it went under was horrifying. "Maybe we should leave."

"Yeah, you're right…" They walked outside of the building and started to make their way down the road. They turned a corner and saw a boy hunched over a small girl of about 12 moving out of a small shop down the road. They started to walk slowly towards the southern entrance and nearly rounded a corner when Alexandra recognized the older boy and ran over to hug him forcefully from behind.

"Jacob! Jacob! What are you doing here?!" The force of her "hug" caused Jacob to stumble over Heidi and fall to the ground flat on his back, with her on top. The hilariousness of the cliché flew over Jacob's head when he found the girl he liked on top of him, and his face grew bright red in embarrassment. Granted, Alexandra was equally as embarrassed as this wasn't what she expected from this turn of events.

"A-A-Alex! What are you doing here!? Whatever, doesn't matter," he picks the both of them up and brushes himself off, "We gotta get outta here! Come on!" As he grabs her arm and turns to lead her, Mike interjects.

"Ooooooooi~! You forgetting someone?"

"Who's that?"

"A friend, don't worry," Alex smiles up at Jacob as introductions between the two boys are had, as well as introductions for Heidi, and they begin to make their way to the Southern entrance. Jacob's concern for his other friends has him worried, but Heidi and Alex seemingly made his worries disappear. Throughout non-specific chit-chat Alex revealed that Bill was helping keep people safe with another person she met recently named Roy. Alex and Mike don't know what happened to them as well, but they can be sure that they're safe.

"Hey, wait a minute… where's Torchie?" Mike taps Alex on the shoulder and signals her to look around.

"What's a Torchie?"

"Oh, its Roy's Blaziken, Heidi. He was with us until a second ago." The two ponder what might've happened and Mike comes to the conclusion, "Maybe he knows where Roy is?"

"How would he know that?" Jacob's interest is piqued.

"Well they have a strange power together… Like telepathy. It's possible he can sense where Roy is and went to find him."

"Weeeellllll okay then." Jacob's skepticism didn't allow for such a theory to continue dancing in his head and now doubts there was even a Blaziken to start with. "I should let you know too, we need to get to Viridian. That's where we planned to meet up should we get separated. Let's try to get there from Vermillion-" The ground rumbles a bit more as the building, now a good distance behind them, crumbles some more, some rubble falling from random parts of the building. "Come on. let's keep moving. We gotta get out of here."

"NOT SO FAST YOU TWERPS!" It was Jessie, furiously running towards the group of kids. "We've already failed the mission so I'm gonna take out my anger on you four little losers!"

"Jessie, calm down! They aren't the kids from before!"

"Did the kids from before have a Houndour and a Typhlosion?" Heidi's question just landed them in hot water.

"Oh! Are you their friends?! Serviper! Wrap them up!" At the command a Serviper came shooting out of a pokeball and attempted to use Bind, but a Metang fresh out of its ball got in the way and threw it to the side with a Psychic attack.

"Jessie! Let's just get back to base and report what happened! We don't have to fight these kids!"

"Listen to da man Jess, we'll just tell da boss what happened and let it be!" The talking Meowth silenced all present that didn't know if its existence. Jacob's jaw hit the ground and Heidi started to swoon over how adorable it was. Meowth, seeing the little girl swoon instinctively reacted, "Hey, get your eyes offa me girl, I'm no play thing!"

"Anyway, Jessie, beating these kids in a battle won't solve anything! Let's just go."

"Oh alright! But I'll warn you now! If I see any of you again I'll _**KILL**_ you!" The three angrily walked past them as the Serviper slithered away along with them. Jacob still most surprised at the talking Meowth. The elite Rocket Team simply walked past and said nothing more, until they got close enough to recognize one member of the party.

James turns, looks up and down the red-headed boy, and asks nonchalantly, "Hey, Silver, what are you doing with these people? I thought you were hiding from us."

"HAAAAAAAH? Silver is here?" Jessie turns back around to face the one Alexandra knew as Mike, as he tries to hide his face behind the Metang, still floating in the air. "OOOOH it iiiiiiiiiis Silver!"

"I am not Silver anymore!"

"I think if we take him back to Giovanni we may get a nice bonus!"

"I said I'm not Silver! I've left that existence behind!"

"You sure? Your daddy really misses you-"

"TELL THAT BASTARD I HATE HIM AND THAT I WON'T COME BACK!"

"Ooooh, feisty now, aren't we?"

"Hey! Stop it!" Surprisingly Alexandra spoke up against the red-headed woman, now standing between her and 'Silver'. "He isn't who you think he is. He's a nice boy who cares for his friends and his pokemon! He's not evil like you people! I don't know who this Silver is, because the only person I see standing here is Mike! The Mike that helped save me from your Rocket Grunts and wouldn't hurt a single pokemon!"

Jacob was taken aback at the spur of confidence in her eyes, he isn't thinking so much of the Silver: Giovanni's son equals this guy, but more of, 'when did she get so tough? How is she not scared? Did she fall in love with him or something?' It was quite amusing how although traumatic and earthshaking events were taking place, the only thing he was concerned with someone's love affairs.

"Hmm, whatever girl. Either way your daddy would love it if you woul-"

"I SAID I HATE THAT MAN!"

"Let's go Jessie, it's obvious he doesn't want back into Rocket."

"OF COURSE I DON'T. NOW LEAVE!"

"Sheesh, what a hard-ass. Let's just get goin guys. I'm sure da baws will have somethin for us."

"But we failed Meowth. I'm sure he'll be pretty pissed."

"Oh shut up both of you! If we just grovel like we normally do…." Their voices faded away as they walked down the road, walking towards the center of the city.

"Thanks… for sticking up for me Alexandra."

"Oh it… it was nothing. You know you can call me Alex if you want." She gives him a smile as something falls from her jean pocket. The walkie-talkie they could use to contact Bill and Roy, wherever they were in the city. Mike reacts fast, quickly picking up the talkie and pressing buttons like mad. "Hello? Bill, Roy, are you there?"

The voice on the other side was static ridden but the message was given well enough, "_H-, we found two -f our frie-…. ere and are t-… spital. Are y-… ay?"_

Jacob grabs the device from Mike/Silver's hand, knowing his friend's voice anywhere, "BILL! IT'S ME JACOB! ARE YOU WITH LEN AND JOHN?"

_"Huh…. -EAH, DUDE! GET TO-… -PITAL! WE CAN GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!"_

"Wait… which hospital?"

_"Some -…..ove us to Cerul-….. -ity. Everyone w-… -eaving Saffron so we went to Cerulean."_

After looking around at the broken city, and realizing it'd be a day-long walk from where they stood to Cerulean City, he decides to give Bill his pre-determined backup plan.

"I think it'd be better if we meet up in Viridian City. it'd be really dangerous to stay in Saffron… Listen, just stay with those guys for now, we are gonna get to Viridian. They know the plan too, they'll understand."

_"O-….-ever, we'll see ya there."_

"Alright, lets, uh…" He turned to the three in front of him, a small girl he only met maybe a month ago, the girl he likes, and a kid who's the son of the man they are fighting against who very well may possibly steal her heart away; a very motley crew. "Let's get moving." The four start walking in the direction of Vermillion city in hopes of healing their pokemon and catching a boat to Pallet Town. The sun was beginning to lower itself in the sky as the four trainers began walking the long path to their next destination, never once looking back.


	48. Ch 48: Hospital Visit

Chapter 48 Hospital Visit

Torchie, now invigorated from the berries it was fed earlier, was sprinting as fast as he could towards Cerulean City to meet his owner and best friend. He somehow knew he would be in Cerulean, somewhere within the City. He ran as fast as he could, gaining more and more speed with every beat of his foot on the ground, eventually making what would have been a one day walk a 30 minute sprint. The people it began passing as it slowed to a jog were surprised and frightened at the unusual pokemon. Considering a good portion of the people who fled Saffron went to Cerulean and were still scared out of their mind from the attack earlier, they were still jumpy and frightened even by the speedy pokemon.

He turned corners quickly, dashing towards a building it could easily recognize in any other city, the hospital. 'Why was he in a hospital?' He thought, then quickly ran inside, startling staff members and patients alike.

"Torchie!? How'd you find me?" The surprised Roy got up out of his seat and hugged his favorite pokemon.

_"I don't know, I could just feel where you were… Why are you in a hospital a City away!?"_

"Oh, well, Bill's friends blew up the SilphCo. building and we escorted the man that found them here."

_"Ah… well… I'm pretty tired, take me to a Center."_

"Well that's one way to ask politely! Hey Bill, I'm taking Torchie to the Pokemon Center!"

"Alright, don't take too long, they're gonna let us see them in a bit!" Roy left through the front door with his pokemon, people still startled at the sight of the Blaziken. "Thanks again sir for driving us here. I understand it probably wasn't the most convenient for you, but we really do appreciate it!" The boy who towered over the man was enthusiastic about his thankfulness and the smaller man accepted it wholeheartedly.

"I-it's no problem! I always help someone who needs it!" The man sat back down in his seat when a Nurse Joy walked up to Bill.

"You can see your friends now, they're in room 302."

"Thank, you." He turns to the man, "Um, excuse me sir-,"

"The names Patrick."

"Right, sorry, can you wait here for Roy and tell him what room we are in?"

"Yeah, sure it's no problem!"

The nurse turned for Bill to follow down the hallway, "They haven't suffered any major injuries, except for a broken arm, but that should heal in a few weeks. Leonard needed a few stitches because the bone broke through the skin. They have minor burns and a few cuts and scratches, so they'll stay with us for a few more days."

"Oh thank goodness. No otherwise lasting injuries?"

"No, they should be both completely healed in about 2 weeks. The break in Len's arm is not too large, and it's in his forearm so he'll still be able to move his arm around." The two entered an elevator and rode it up to the third floor, where the nurse led him around one corner and into the room housing both Len and John. The bed nearest the wall had a sleeping Len, left forearm in a black cast, the one closer to the door had John watching TV, about the news in Saffron, the bed in between had the engineer John and Len had to save before Team Rocket got to him. He was lying upright also watching the television with John in silence.

"Oh… OH! Hey Bill!" John was happy to see his friend from another region visiting him in the hospital. "What are you doing here?"

"Who do you think brought you here?" He winked at John, who giggled femininely to go along with the gag. "What I want to know is, who is this?" He indicates Antonio.

"He's a guy who we need to help."

"Yes, my name is Antonio Fabiano, I worked in SilphCo. on a secret project to develop the Master Ball, should Team Rocket ever revive, like it did. We were halfway done with the project when they attacked the SilphCo. Building, now all that construction, and research, gone!" The older man starts to tear up. "Now if they do succeed there's no telling what could possibly happen to the world. It'll take years to develop the system we created, and no telling how much longer it would take to actually construct the ball itself!"

_"__**THAT,**_ good sir, is where you're wrong!" An anonymous voice forces all awake to turn, where Roy was standing. Knowing the voice didn't come from Roy, Bill opened the door where another man was standing. He was taller than Roy, but not as tall as Bill, with curly brown hair around his head, a small untrimmed beard, and round glasses. He was wearing an open button up shirt, revealing a white undershirt, in khakis and dress shoes. He smiles at the people in the room and walks up to the engineer's bed. "You're the famous Antonio Fabiano? Correct?"

"Well I wouldn't say famous… Who are you?"

"Why I'm the man who invented the Box Storage system on the PC! I'm Bill!"

"No I'm Bill!"

Bill and Bill shared a laugh as they argued who's the real Bill. It ended with a hand shake and a smile as they decided they would change their names to 'Smart Bill' and 'Funny Bill' while they were together for the time being.

Smart Bill started again, "Sorry to prove you wrong Antonio, but you see, I've also been working on a project, much like the Master Ball, except not as powerful, I haven't been able to make the calculations quite correct, and I'm going to need some help." He smiled as the answer he anticipated came flying out of Antonio's mouth extremely enthusiastically.

"Of course I'll help you! Hahaha! I've already memorized about all of the equations anyway! It's all really a matter of putting it down and making it work. You see-" The two trailed off into their 'smart-person' conversation while Roy pulls out two pokeballs.

"This one's yours John," He tosses the ball containing Typhlosion into the lap of his new friend, then turns to Len, who is still asleep.

"Here, let me have this one." Funny-Bill takes the ball containing Len's pokemon and whips it at his back. Len wakes up in agony as the small metallic ball makes contact with him at about 30 MPH and is extremely pissed.

"HEY, WHO THREW THAT AT ME!? OW GODDAMNIT! THAT REALLY HURT!" When he saw the guilty party his pain turned somewhat into happiness at the sight of his long-gone friend who he hasn't seen in a long time. "Dammit Bill what the hell!?" He picks up his great ball and before whipping it back at Bill, he inspects it, and releases his pokemon. He's stunned to see that his Houndour is no longer what it used to be. The Houndoom standing there looked tired and groggy as it yawned a puff of smoke and hobbled over to the side of his trainers bed, lying down and falling asleep. "Whoa. When did he evolve?"

"Dunno, apparently he was next to you like that when you went flying into the house," replied Bill.

"The Nurse Joy in the pokemon center said that if he hadn't evolved during that explosion he could have died. It survived by the skin of its teeth and was healed enough to be released, so I picked it up for you. She also said not to use him in a battle for a while because he's going to be extremely weak as he continuously rests and heals. Also that he'll be very sleepy a lot of the time," thus explaining the reason why it went straight to sleep.

"Great, now can you explain this?" John points to 'smart Bill', now in a deep conversation with Antonio.

"Oh, I met him outside. He heard Antonio was hospitalized here, and explained how he was an engineer from SilphCo. and because this was an engineer from SilphCo. I led him here, and I guess this is Antonio." He lets out a nervous giggle and introduces himself to John and Len as Roy, Bill's partner for the past few weeks.

"Well Roy I'm sure we'll be good friends, especially if Bill already loosened you up!" Len patted the head of his sleeping Houndoom and smiled.

"Yeah, he used to be a real stick in the mud but he got cool." A thumbs up confirms what Bill has to say, as Roy is welcomed happily into the group… again.


	49. Ch 49: Jacob's Despair & Gligar

Author's Note: Still looking for OCs...

Chapter 49: Jacob's Despair and Gligar

"So… uh… excuse the question, if you find it inappropriate, but, uh, what name should we call you?"

"Mike. Please. I don't want anything attached to me that connects in any way to my past."

"Alrighty-then.… Do you mind if I ask why or would that be prying too much?" Jacob's natural curiosity was getting the better of him, but although he just met Mike, he wanted to get to know him and help him if he was troubled.

"I'd rather not talk about it, but you're bound to find out that Giovanni's my father."

"No, no, I understand, I just wanted to see if I could help in any way."

"It's alright, there's probably nothing you could do anyway." The male-bonding session late at night in their hotel room was stagnant. It was the same hotel that Heidi and Jacob stayed in when they won the Thunderbadge, but a much more extravagant room. Mike somehow had a lot of money saved, apparently in an account his father made for him when he was small, and eventually forgot about as his son grew up. This was the first time in a long while he's tapped into his account and withdrew a large sum of money for luxury; then again it wasn't very often he's rent a hotel room for three of his new partners considering where he's lived for years.

The room was very large, with three king-sized beds, and a few large comfortable chairs around a table on the far wall; Jacob was forced to sleep on because Heidi called one of the beds. A large television surrounded by a very nice-looking entertainment center was against the wall, opposite the three beds.

"When do you think the girls will be done in the bath?" Jacob tried to revive the conversation, but it wasn't working well.

"I dunno." The two sat in silence a bit longer.

"Soooo….."

"What?" The attitude in his voice indicated he probably didn't want to be bothered further.

"Never mind…" A few more moments of silence led Jacob to start twirling his Safari ball on his finger. It clumsily spun a rotation then fell off. He tried again with the same result, the ball falling into his lap. He did it again. Caught it before it hit the ground. Tried again. The ball hit the ground and his Magneton popped out, stretching from being in the ball for so long. It took a swift look around the room with its three eyes and floated about, blocking Mike's view of the television.

"Tell your pokemon to watch where it floats!"

"Sorry it wanted to float there for a second!"

"Just put it back in your ball already! It's still in the way!" The Magneton guiltily moved itself to the other side of the bed Mike was lying on and continued to explore the room. The door opened, causing it to stagger back and float back across the room, in front of the TV yet again, and back around Jacob. Alexandra and Heidi, both in white robes, walked gracefully into the room.

"Aaaaahhhhh, I feel so refreshed!" Heidi jokingly tried to give Mike a sensual gaze, but was completely ignored as he tried to take peeks at Alexandra in her robe. He wasn't the only one stunned by her plain beauty as Jacob was also trying to hide his attempts at staring down the magnificent entity that graced them.

"Hey, have you two been getting along?" Alex's question seemed much more sincere than how she probably meant it.

"Eh."

"Yeah." The unenthusiastic answers disappointed her, forcing a pout.

"You two should stop being so… ugh, I don't know the word." She began drying her hair with her towel when Jacob starts in on them again.

"So why were you with these guys battling the Rockets again?"

"I told you to stop being so protective! I already explained how they came to the daycare looking for Len but _**I**_ helped them instead. What's so wrong about that?"

"You could've been hurt… or something bad could have happened?"

"It's fine. Roy lent me his most powerful pokemon; Mike came and helped me anyway."

"Yeah, she's in good hands," Mike sends a smirk towards Jake, who is now flustered at the action.

"Well!... Still!..." He couldn't find the words he wanted to use and gave up, turning over in his chair. "I'M GOIN' TO SLEEP!" Angrily pulling the covers over himself, Jacob was over-thinking the situation as he normally would; and would put himself in a cycle where he depresses himself, then gains unnatural confidence, then depresses himself again. This went on for hours while he spent his time under the blanket separated from the rest of the group.

* * *

Roy and Bill were staying in the small motel, next door to the Hospital Len and John were admitted into with Antonio. The discussions of plans to get to Viridian, as told by Jacob, have long passed as they sleep the night away. Well, one of them is sleeping. The other is in the bathroom standing over the sink washing his face off, fretting over the recurring nightmare about his Gligar. It always seemed to come whenever a Rocket event happened; this time it was later than usual.

"Ugh…" He moaned and groaned over the sink, debating on staying up for the night and wandering Cerulean, or trying to go back to sleep in hopes of avoiding another encounter with his dead friend.

"Why does this keep happening to me," Roy asked to nobody.

"What does it even mean?..." Roy had gotten over his friend's death a year after it occurred, which leads him to believe his nightmares are coming back for a reason. His thought process wasn't flawed, but there weren't any other rational reasons he could come up with. His Gligar was old to begin with, he found it by a small pond drinking water when he was training his Torchic. He obviously, as a new trainer, had to challenge it to a battle in an attempt to catch it. After toying with the boy and his first pokemon, the Gligar eventually decided to pull more pranks on the boy.

It would follow him home, wait until the middle of the night, and bang on his window. Or it would fly right past his face whenever he walked maybe 20 feet outside. Needless to say the Gligar was having the time of its life, but Roy would get wise to its game. He would start counter-pranking the Gligar whenever possible, by showing kindness by offering an Oran berry which just turned out to be a painted rock, or catching the Gligar in a net whenever it tried to fly by. This is how their short, but well lived friendship started.

After a few months the three were all best of friends, always playing and doing things such as battling other trainers and fishing together. Although Gligar wasn't formally captured, he still listened to Roy's commands during a battle; but would soon turn traitor when Roy picked himself the most delicious food. The two were famously getting along, but like most stories of friendship, theirs didn't last long. Gligar attained an unknown illness, from what nobody could discern. There wasn't much doctors and nurses didn't know, but this particular disease (and the details surrounding Pokerus) was in the fog; there were no other recorded cases of the illness within the Hoenn region, so it was assumed it was an Almia-specific virus (there was three recorded cases in Almia in which all the pokemon died). The Gligar passed on leaving only the words Torchie couldn't remember to his friend, Roy.

What Roy couldn't understand was why his dreams mostly covered when Gligar died. He would ponder for hours over the meaning, possibly thinking Gligar knew something like this would happen; but then the thought of an all-seeing Gligar was struck from his mind every time. The only pokemon that could really see into the future was Xatu, and Roy was certain Gligar didn't have any Xatu genes. The thought that it meant nothing crossed his mind every time this debate came up, as well as the fact that he could be trying to remember out of sheer curiosity for what Gligar said; but like Torchie continually tells him, he can't remember. Then an outlandish idea comes to light: what if he doesn't remember but doesn't want to tell him? No, that's ridiculous, Torchie is his closest friend, of course he'd tell Roy. The thoughts continued to dance in his mind for the remainder of the night, torturing him before he could finally find the way to slumber-land.

He didn't dream that morning, and thought about this when Bill woke him up at 9 to see John, Len, and "That Engineer dude with the big nose". The three were being checked out today, Len still having his left arm in a cast. Apparently, Antonio agreed to work with Bill up at Bill's cottage on Cerulean Cape, where they would continue to create, build, and subsequently give to this unlikely gang, the Master Ball. Their last mission before going to Viridian City would be to escort Bill and Antonio to the Cape, then they'd be on their way to join up with the other four members of the team.


	50. Ch 50: A Sister's Problems & Pallet Town

Author's Note: Well here's chapter 50. I'm surprised a bunch of you have read for this long! I like how my readers love my story! It makes me so happy! :D Anyway, this probably isn't even the half-way point of the story, so keep reading, keep loving, and I'M STILL LOOKING FOR OC'S FOR THE TOURNAMENT! Gosh, it's like you don't even WANT to be in this story! lol. Enjoy the latest chapter!

Chapter 50 A Sister's Problems and Pallet Town

A black ball rolled out from underneath a twin sized bed in a small home outside of Celadon. The pokemon inside forced itself out like normal, and fluttered about the room wondering where her owner was. _"He said he was going to do something big. I wonder why he didn't bring me?"_ The somewhat saddened Togetic fluttered towards the closed door and slowly opened it. It started to fly down the hallway when a voice from behind it startled, and subsequently sent flying around in a tizzy, the Flying Normal-type.

"Oh! Hello, what are you doing here? I thought you were with Jacob."

The Togetic recognizes its master's sister and starts to angrily ask why it is still here and not with Jacob. The Hoppip sympathizes, but Erika can't understand a word its saying, so she asks another question. "Did he leave some other pokemon here?"

The Togetic nods and trills once more, flying into the bedroom next to the bed, where it inadvertently activates a pokeball releasing Heidi's Squirtle into the room. "Oh! They left you too! Here, can you reach under the bed and grab any more pokeballs?" The Squirtle nods at the alluring Erika, and grabs each ball and places them on the bed, 9 pokeballs and a small red and orange egg in all. "Oh my, how careless of him. I only thought he left me his Vena-teehee, sorry, his IVYsaur. He's going to have a lovely surprise!" She giggles and grabs one of Jacob's extra back packs he left on the floor before he left. She carefully packs each ball into the bag, one by one, returning the Squirtle to its ball, but allowing Togetic to fly around more.

She puts the egg on top of the balls in the pouch as gingerly as possible, and proceeds to zip it closed. Hoppip and Togetic were having a great conversation about how they hope to evolve soon, and the different quirks and natures of their caretakers. Hoppip explains how it enjoys so much always floating around with Erika, much like how Togetic likes to escape its ball and fly around Jacob.

"Ok, come on you two. I just called someone who can help you get back to Jacob, and lucky for us he's in the area!" The two fly around her and follow her outside, no trace of Jacob's mother in the house. "She won't mind if I'm gone for a few days," she mutters to herself as she walks down the front steps. Purely from memorization, she walks just fine from her home to her Gym where she picks up three pokeballs, and returns her Torterra, Roserade, and Vileplume to their balls. She tells her other three strongest: Victreebell, Tropius, and Ludicolo to look after the other pokemon while she's gone. They comply as the Victreebell immediately has to tend to some rowdy Nuzleaf and a few Bulbasaur, and the additional caretaker takes note of who won't be needing meals tonight.

She steps out the front doors of her Gym, sits gently back on her legs, and waits. She's only there for maybe five minutes when overhead, the cry of a Pidgeot echoed throughout the town. Hoppip dug itself into Erika's chest, as it was afraid of the Flying-type pokemon. It slowly circled lower and lower until finally perching itself next to Erika, one man getting off of its large back.

"Lady Erika, it's always a pleasure to help you," the suave man, about the same height as Jacob with spiky brown hair, bowed in respect to his fellow Gym Leader. "Maybe this time I'll be able to persuade you to become my wife."

Erika lets out a giggle and returns her Hoppip to its ball, "Oh Green, how many times have I rejected you already?"

His voice suddenly turns from suave and cool to fiery and energized, "17, but that doesn't mean I'll give up!" He was wearing a black sweat shirt and blue jeans just like any other casual man. The only way you'd be able to recognize he was the eighth Gym Leader is if he released his pokemon and challenged you to a one sided battle. "Alright, so why did you need me again?"

"I need to go to Viridian, my brother is on his way there and I need to give him and his friends his pokemon he left here."

"Oh that's no problem for us!" He drops another pokeball letting out a Charizard, capable of flying the mistress across the land to her destination. He mounts his Pidgeot and tells Erika to do the same on Charizard, and also to return that Togetic to its ball. She complies and hops onto her friend's pokemon.

"Hold on tight Miss Erika!" The two pokemon launch themselves upwards at extreme speeds, and dash forward in the sky towards the town of Viridian City.

* * *

The boat to Pallet Town was small, but the kind of small were you have more room to move around than you think there is. Well that's how Heidi described it when they first set foot on the deck; the captain explained it wouldn't be a long way, possibly an hour or two because the boat is a new model. It's called some extra-Gyrados something-or-other that only a fisherman would really understand. Either way they had just passed under cycling road maybe a half-hour ago and Pallet Town was in their sights.

"Look! Look! That's where Red lived!"

"I bet you did the same thing when you got your pokemon from Oak."

"Yeah! Me and my family took lots of pictures!"

"So you mean just you?" Heidi puffed her face up in anger.

"Shuddup Jacob!" The adorable little girl pouted and moved as far away from her verbal assailant as possible on the seat across the back of the boat. The air of the sea was whipping around her little brown pigtails as the boat sped faster and faster in one direction. Alexandra was inside the small cabin, sloppily sleeping on an improvised chair, and Mike was talking to the captain about some such nonsense about Water-type pokemon. The sun directly over the boat made it hard to generally see, so Jacob was spending his time sitting down with his eyes closed listening to the cries of the Wingull and Pelipper overhead. He wondered how he and his friends were going to get back the pokemon they left at home for safe keeping and thought of a strategy that didn't involve seeing his mom so he didn't have a chance to explain why he came back. He figured, like with all other plans, he'll burn that bridge when he gets there.

It isn't much longer of a wait but they finally dock at Pallet Town, Prof. Oak's lab in sight on top of the nearby hill. That's not why they're here, but Jacob considers visiting the old professor who gave him his Bulbasaur… He left it at home… He'll figure that out later.

* * *

"Lookie! Let's go visit Oak!"

"Not today, we are going to go to Viridian today, it's only a one hour walk from here, they're surprisingly close." The little girl complies when Alexandra speaks up.

"Oh, I kinda wanted to visit Professor Oak…" Now seeing the flaw in his mistake he thinks strategically of the situation. If he changes his mind about it it'll be too obvious, but if he doesn't he'll sound like a jerk. He thinks of a brilliant strategy.

"How about you Mike?"

"I don't care." Curses. The decision really is up to him.

"Well, I guess we can-"

"YAY!" The two girls cheer in unison as Jacob successfully didn't make it obvious he's biased towards Alexandra.

"I wanna see all of grandpa's pokemon again before we go to Viridian!"

"We will Heidi," Jacob hands the man who owns the boat a few dollars as a tip for bringing them over so quickly, while the two girls rush off.

"Looks like we've been left behind," Mike points out.

"Well… what can ya do?"

"Follow." The sarcastic jab from Jacob hits thin air; Mike begins after the girls, but at a slow methodical pace. Jacob joins in, strolling alongside his new friend. Well, not quite his friend yet, just a trusted acquaintance. Well, not so much trusted as he is helpful to the three of them. He's just a guy Jacob knows as far as he's concerned.

It wasn't a particularly long hike to the lab, but it did cause the excited girls to get winded and tire themselves out. A man with longer black hair held up with an orange headband found the tired couple outside of the door. "Hey, do you two need some water?"

"YES PLEASE!" Heidi's enthusiasm is unrivaled in the weirdest ways.

"Well here, let me take you back inside."

"Well, wait, we have to wait for two more."

"Oh?" At the mention of the two boys they appear at the top of the hill.

"Hi, I'm Jacob," Jacob holds out a hand and introduces himself.

"Hey, my name's Tracy, one of Prof. Oak's assistants. You're all welcome to come inside if you like!"

He turns to lead them into the building when Heidi jumps out in front of him, "I'm Heidi! Nice ta-meet-cha! She's Alexandra, and he's Mike!"

"Oh, sorry, well hello all! Shall we go inside?" They all nod in unison as Tracy leads them all through the front doors, where the tall ceiling and large windows let in as much light as possible. Pokemon of all shapes and sizes small enough to be inside float up and down interacting gently with each other. Some flew to a higher floor where they would be fed, and others flew out open windows into the pastures surrounding the Lab. The pokemon all enjoyed their time with Oak and his assistants, as can be seen by the Swinub giggling and squirming in Oak's hands as he walks over to the group.

"OH! Welcome! How do you like my lab?" As the shorter man with medium-length, grey hair holds up his free arm to show off the lab the four already inspected; wearing a Lab coat, tan khakis, and very nice looking shoes, he turns around to lead them around and show off his work. A few minutes of bragging led to a small gap in the conversation, which Oak filled with a question, "Jacob, how is your Bulbasaur doing?"

"Wait, you remember what pokemon you gave me? Wait you remembered my name too?"

"Of course I do! I remember giving Alexandra here a Charmander, Heidi a Squirtle, Maxie down in Fuchsia a Squirtle too, Lilly in Lavender a Charmander, the list goes on and on! I never forget my pokemon and their owners! Now tell me how's your Bulbasaur! I'm sure he's missed being here!"

"Well-uh, ya seeIaccidentallylefthimathom ebecauseofcertaincircumstanc es-….." Lucky for Jacob Heidi butts in with an obvious question.

"Say! Where are all of Grandpa's pokemon?"

"OH RIGHT HEIDI!" The old man leads the four through double doors leading out towards the pastures. "They're all out here!" He stretches his arms over the acres and acres of land where pokemon multiple pokemon of almost all 600 different species were roaming, grazing, floating, flying, running, playing, you name it and a pokemon is doing it. "Six thousand two hundred and three pokemon live here! And every single one of them is as happy as they can be!" The fields, orchards, lakes, rivers, rock formations, cliffs, and forests (all man-made of course) stretched for miles seemingly all the way out to the horizon. "All of my aides here love helping here, and not a single problem has ever arisen!"

This time Mike speaks up, "If you have all these pokemon here just out in the open, why hasn't Team Rocket tried kidnapping any?"

Tracy answers the question before the professor has a chance to, "Well not only are there extremely powerful pokemon here, but we also have a security system in which if there's a breach anywhere- and I mean ANYWHERE- on the lands that pokemon can roam on, a special team of stealthy and powerful pokemon make their way to where the silent alarm was triggered. From there the-"

"Okay okay Tracy I think they get the point now!" Now obviously frustrated at not being able to excitedly explain, he invites the four for dinner later that evening, or perhaps to view his research. The delegation is down to Jacob's decision about the situation yet again. "Sorry, but we've got to get to Viridian soon, after meeting some of the pokemon we'll be on our way."

"It's a shame! But I know all about kids and their wacky schedules, so go ahead and fool around in the fields for a few hours. I'm sure your pokemon will want to spend some time having fun as well!"

The next few hours were spent differently for each of the trainers; Heidi spent time with her grandfather's pokemon; Jacob attempted to train Exploud once more, meeting the same end, but with a bit of improvement; Alexandra found all the cutest Pichu she could find and fawned over it until its mother Raichu gave her a small shock; and Mike spent time reading a book under a tree filled with Aipom and other Bug-type pokemon.

Afterwards, the four of them talk for a bit more with Oak, who eventually gives up on persuading them to stay, and then walk back down the hill to a small dirt road. A wooden pike to the side of the road with a sign on the top reads: "RT 1". With the sun beginning to set to the left of them, the short walk to Viridian begins.


	51. Ch 51: Long Night

Chapter 51 Long Night

It wasn't very big, much like all the other hotels Jacob had stayed in so far throughout his journey. Two beds again, Heidi and Alexandra on one, Mike, Jacob, and a small wall of pillows on the other. Nothing extraordinary happened on their way towards Viridian, except for a pesky boy ranting about a Rattata. He aggravated Heidi to the breaking point and got his butt handed to him in a one on one battle against her. It wasn't very fair considering she used Arcanine in the battle, against her mother's demands in her having the Arcanine in the first place. Surprisingly, it obeyed every one of her commands; probably due to the fact that she_ is_ Blaine's granddaughter.

It's quiet between the four of them in the hotel room. The TV has a cartoon on featuring a talking Poliwhirl on an adventure with a talking Tepig, with Heidi giggling along. Alexandra's laying on a bed looking up at the ceiling blankly, Mike is sitting at a chair reading a magazine, and Jacob's on the other bed watching the TV along with Heidi.

Jacob is the first one to say something in what seems like hours, "Has anyone noticed that we haven't seen any Rockets since Saffron City?"

"Well that's probably because that was the last major heist they needed to pull off. I doubt we'll be seeing them again anytime soon, Jacob." The last part of his sentence sounded extremely sarcastic and rude. The snide remark causes Jacob to become frustrated.

"Well thanks for the insight MIKE. Just TRYING to start up a conversation."

"Whatever, I'm gonna go for a walk." He slams his book shut and walks towards the door.

"Don't get lost!"

Mike angrily leaves through the door and slams it shut.

"Why are you two constantly like that!?" Alexandra hops up off the bed and puts on a coat. "I hope you're happy now!" She rushes out after Mike in an attempt to explain some sort of reasoning behind his actions.

"Meh."

"Bro, why don't you like Mike?"

"Because…. if I told you you'd think it's silly…"

A devious grin appears on Heidi's face. "OOOOOOHHHHHHH! Okay! Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!"

Jacob doesn't even question it. He just accepts the fact that Heidi knows what he's thinking. "Well it's obvious he likes her. How else am I supposed to act?"

"Tell her of course!"

"I can't do that!... Besides, I was gonna after I won the league tournament-"

"Nice try, you'd never win against me!"

"Yeah yeah. Anyway, after I win, I'll tell her I like her."

"That won't work. What happens when you lose?"

"I won't."

"Ooooookay, whatever you say. But what if it doesn't happen?"

"Then I'll try again next year?"

"What if she likes Mike?"

"I can't stop her from doing what she wants."

"What if they fall in love?"

Jacob rolls on his side in the bed, "Then good for them…"

"Don't be sad! I'll help you!"

"Yeah right, how can a twelve year old girl help me win over the heart of a childhood friend?"

"By asking her who she likes, then I'll tell you if she likes you!"

"Then that'd ruin the surprise of being told so by herself. Try thinking dummy!"

"Aaaahhhh! You're making it too hard on yourself!"

"Well I want it to be special!"

Heidi hops up off the bed and starts mock-pacing, "Well you're putting yourself in a conundrunum of sorts-"

"Conundrum-"

"Whatever, you can make it special in another way!"

"Well yeah, but winning the tournament would be much more awesome than other thoughts I've had…"

"Like what?"

"Like giving her a dopey Christmas present and telling her then, or catching her a pokemon she really wanted and giving it to her," he goes to continue but can't think of any more scenarios he's already thought up.

"Well if you win do it then! If you don't then do the Christmas present thingy. OR if a Rocket attack happens you could save her life by pushing her out of the way of a Hyper Beam attack, and after it hits you you could lie there dying and have your last words be: 'I love you Alexandra!'" Her eyes start gleaming at the end of her epic story.

"But that would require me dying…. and as far as I know I'm allergic to death."

"Haha yeah whatever! Or you could come riding in on a Rapidash and-!"

"Ok enough of your stories. I'm going to sleep." Jacob tucks his head under the covers as Heidi gives more ridiculous suggestions on fairy-tale ways to tell Alexandra about his love.

* * *

"Mike! Mike come back!" Alexandra was running towards her friend, a few doors down from the hotel. The darkness of the night seeming to separate the two until she reaches him.

"Ugh I don't want to! That guy really pisses me off!"

"You're just not used to each other yet, I'm sure you two will gro-"

"That won't happen. He's just a jerk."

"How?"

"He's just been making sarcastic comments all the time like he thinks he's better than me. It's pissing me off!"

"That's just his sense of humor, he got that from hanging out with my brother too much."

"Yeah well it isn't helping his cause." He starts walking forward again, but Alexandra grabs his sleeve and tugs him enough so he stops moving.

"Can't you two just get along?" She looks up into his face, saddened by the fact two of her friends just can't interact well together.

"I'm sorry." Mike turns back to her as they come together in a hug.

"It'll be fine. Jacob's really a good guy once you warm up to him."

"Thanks, but, it's just something about him that makes me really angry; like, he's self-righteous or something." The hug ends as Alexandra pulls away.

"Don't worry. Once you start talking pokemon I'm sure you two will find something in common." She smiles back at him.

"I don't think it'll be that easy," he says it in a way that suggests there's another force behind their discontent with each other.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"I'll tell you another time." Mike bites his lip and walks past her, back towards the hotel. He didn't want to tell her _now _that he thought she was the greatest girl he will probably ever meet. It hasn't even been a full month since they've known each other, and he didn't want to jeopardize anything now that they have to be together for who knows how long. Plus if she were to reject him he probably could just go home… well, the place where he lived. The problem though is that he doesn't want to go back. He never wants to go back. Too much time was spent being alone, stealing food and money to get by, keeping his life hidden from those who would reject his existence purely because of his father. His only acceptance was with Alexandra, and losing that would destroy him.

Alexandra tries to make him happy again, "Well don't worry, once the others catch up to us we'll all be happy!"

What he forgets to think about is how friendly he was with Roy and Bill. They were great guys; really fun to be with and definitely a reason to not go back to his hole. Adventuring with the two of them could be a blast. That's one way he could spend the greater part of his life: traveling. Why hadn't he thought of that before?

"Yeah.. you're right! Thanks Alex!" The two walk back to the hotel, walking closely to each other.


	52. Ch 52: Seeing Green

Author's note: Here's a teaser for a future chapter before the start of chapter 52:

* * *

Through the mass cheers of the crowd, Jacob could barely make out the announcer's voice: "AND GOLDUCK SURVIVES THE HEAVY ONSLAUGHT TO DEFEAT THE MAGNETON! IN AN UNLIKELY UPSET, JACOB IS SET BACK TWO POKEMON TO ONE. WHAT WILL HIS LAST POKEMON BE!?"

Jacob smirked, he might as well pull out his trump card now to instill fear into the other competitors watching this battle.

"Go, Metagross."

The giant metal behemoth took its stance next to its beloved owner. The crowd went silent (except for a cheer from Bill: "I GAVE HIM THAT POKEMON!"). You could hear a pin drop from the collective surprise of the crowd.

"Bullet Punch." The Metagross went screaming towards the Golduck, landing at least 20 punches with its giant iron fists in a span of about three seconds, knocking it out completely. The collective shock left even the announcer quiet. Marcus on the other hand, wasn't intimidated at all. He threw out his third and final ball. A Charizard came out of a pokeball and flew high up into the sky, hurling fire in a giant bright circle above, as if it were rehearsed. Jacob nervously gulped because of the obvious type disadvantage, but he knew he could pull out all the stops to take it down.

* * *

Chapter 52 Seeing Green

"Broooooooooo, why are we going to the gym NOOOOOOOOOWWWWW?"

"I figure if we're already here we can get the Earth Badge now and just wait for the others to get here." Jacob was trotting down the road from the hotel with the small girl bobbing up and down behind him. Because the gym was up on a hill, they had to go back around some houses to follow the road up, where an old man who hadn't had his coffee yet thought they were new trainers.

"Hey you kids! Do you know how to catch a pokemon?"

"Uh…. yeah, we are going to get our Earth badge now."

"Oh… well.. you sure?"

"Positive." Heidi giggles at the weird old man while Jacob shakes his head after having to converse with him. The hill isn't too steep, and the entrance is on the other side of the building, facing the ledge for some reason. It was just more of a hassle to the two trainers, but they sucked it up. Walking through the front doors was easy, as the gym was really laid back. Green figured he didn't need any security other than himself, and nobody has tried robbing it anyway. "I just hope he doesn't start asking about my sister…"

Heidi, not knowing what he means, looks up and asks him, "Why? Does he know sis?"

"_Know _her? He's proposed to her about 20 times already, but she doesn't want to get married yet. That and the fact she's older than him by 5 years-"

"Didn't he and Red get their pokemon before the Mewtwo thing?"

"Yeah, he's only two years older than me. Erika already thinks of him as a little brother considering we are almost the same age." The two wander down a corridor to where the arena is, and surprisingly to Jacob, nobody's there. "Huh… He's normally here training, where could he-"

"EEEEEEEEERIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A~!" Green comes running out of a room towards his side of the battlefield, the room where he keeps his pokmeon's balls, mock crying.

"I told you his Venasaur was strong!" The two still hadn't noticed that Jacob and Heidi were watching them.

"But you didn't have to make it use Solarbeam on my Rhydon! That was just mean!"

"You said you wanted a fair battle!" Erika comes out of the room now, followed by a Venasaur, that immediately recognizes its master, and starts charging towards him.

"No no no NO NO NOOO!" The Venasaur knocks Jacob to the ground and starts to lick his face. Jacob can only thank Arceus that it isn't a full grown Venasaur just yet.

"Oh, Venasaur! What happened!" Erika, who can't see what's going on, relies on Green's reply.

"Looks like his owner just walked in! Hey Jacob how ya doin?"

"Oowwwie…. Venasaur, VENASAUR!" After a few seconds of laughing with his reunited friend, a Togetic comes flying out of the room the two gym leaders were previously in and starts to fly happily around Heidi, Jacob, and Jacob's evolved friend. Jacob finally persuades his friend to get off of him and answers Green's inquiry, "Well, other than being tackled by a small behemoth, pretty okay. What are you doing here Erika?"

"I came to return the rest of your pokemon! Is Heidi-" with a thud, Heidi nearly does the same to Erika what Venasaur did to Jacob.

"I'm heeere!"

"Well, your pokemon are in the back room here, the ones you left behind, where are John and Len?"

"Oh, uh, we got separated, there was a conflict of interest in which way to come to Viridian, so we took different paths. They wanted to visit Seafoam Islands, heheheheh…." The nervous laugh doesn't exactly give away the truth, but Erika knows something is amiss. She decides not to ask though.

"Well, go get them, I'm sure they're dying to see you!"

Within minutes, the trainers are reunited with their pokemon; Jacob releases all his pokemon for the occasion: Snorlax, Metang, Venasaur, Togetic, Magneton, Lairon, and Exploud… who falls asleep off to the side. Heidi also obtains all her pokemon: Eevee, Noctowl, Arcanine, Riolu, Squirtle, and Torkoal, she notices that it's all but one.

"Erikaaa?... Where's my Magby egg?"

"Oh! Don't worry! We put it in a special incubator. It should hatch any day now." Erika leads her to another room to see the egg, leaving Green and Jacob alone with their pokemon.

"Your sister-"

"Don't say it."

"She's pretty hot."

"Screw you Green."

"Did I mention-?"

"Don't."

"I'll be your-"

"I swear if you continue I will burn your gym down-"

"Brother in law one day."

"Screw you Green. Screw you."

"That's no way to treat your Brother in law!"

"Let's just battle already."

"Fine, have it your way!"

The two take their positions on the battlefield.

"How about we make it a best two of three battle? We each choose three, and-"

"I know how it works! I'm a gym leader, I know of every format!"

"What three are you using?"

"Pidgeot, Machamp, aaaaaaand Scizor."

"Ooohhoho! Pulling out the big guns today aren't we!?"

"I'm not gonna let you trample on me to get the badge, I'm better than that!"

"Fine, I'll use Snorlax, Venasaur and Lairon."

"Don't expect your Lairon to battle today."

"I'm fully expecting not to use it." Erika and Heidi walk back into the room Heidi holding the red and yellow egg, which seems to be glowing; seeing the standoff, Heidi starts to shout for Jacob's victory, Erika only smiles.

"If I win Erika will you marry me?" Green yells from across the room.

"Sure, I'll marry you… IF you win!" She giggles into her sleeve as she silently hopes for her brother's victory.

"Alright, go Pidgeot!" His most powerful Flying type comes dashing out of the ball at Mach 2 speeds.

"Go Snorlax!" Snorlax waddles over from its position and steadies itself as it takes a defensive stance. "You're gonna have to be able to take the hit, then hit Pidgeot even harder. You got that?" Snorlax nods as if it knew that was the plan from the beginning.

Pidgeot goes into motion, dashing quickly at the Snorlax, who brushes off the Aerial Ace like it was nothing. Pidgeot quickly rises back up into the air to use Gust from a distance, then dashes forward again, landing a Double-Edge attack right in the center of Snorlax's stomach. While being absorbed into his fat, Snorlax takes hold of the Pidgeot, now struggling to break free, and bites down on half of its body. Pidgeot, while still struggling to break free, uses gust again, which pushes Snorlax back, allowing it to fly high in the sky again. It began to glow and Jacob knew he had almost nothing that could counter a Sky Attack. The Rock Slide was easily dodged and Pidgeot started to dive in. With no other option, Jacob commanded a Thunderpunch attack, only recently taught to the giant pokemon. The arm pulled back, and the punch made contact, fist against beak, at full extension.

An explosion from the area of impact signified that each pokemon had done a massive amount of damage to the other, but both pokemon were miraculously still standing. Pidgeot was noticeably slower, and Snorlax was getting exponentially lazier. Green knew one more move would topple the beast, and Hurricaine did just that. Snorlax fainted, and Pidgeot had won round one.

"Come on Jacob! What kind of battle was that!" Erika, who had been given a commentary full of "oohs" and "aahs" by Heidi, was disappointed in her brother.

"Don't worry, I got the next two, easy."

Snorlax was returned to its ball as Venasaur now stood in front of a mighty Machamp. Jacob chose Venasaur because he knew if he could land an early Poisonpowder, Machamp's attacks would eventually lose their luster and be easily taken down.

As the battle begun, Machamp dashed forward and landed a Mach Punch. It did minimal damage, and Venasaur used the opportunity to land a Leech Seed. Phase one was complete, and phase two was only one Poisonpowder away. Venasaur was seemingly at full health, but then Machamp did something utterly devastating Jacob's plan. It jumped back and started to use Earthquake. The Leech Seed couldn't replenish that much health even if Machamp were seeded five times, and Venasaur was slowly losing the fight. Mega Drain was able to recover it a bit, but another Earthquake slowed it down again. Sunny day was used in combination with Synthesis, restoring a great amount of health, which made Earthquake's effect fade away.

Machamp took initiative and decided to fight with its fists again, running up to Venasaur and dealing out a deadly Fire Punch. As it tried to jump away, a Vine Whip grabbed hold of its ankle, which let Venasaur deal an up close and personal Poisonpowder. Machamp's energy was slowly diminishing, but it was still fighting as if it were at full strength. Expending all it could on a Dynamicpunch, it quickly slowed down in order to try to regain some of its lost energy, but the Leech Seed was doing its work. Despite hitting itself in confusion, another Synthesis fully restored Venasaur to full health, and Green decided to throw in the towel for his pokemon there.

"That was a smart battle, I'll applaud you on that, but your Lairon won't stand a chance in this final battle."

"As much as I love Steel types, I feel I'm probably not gonna like your Scizor."

Lairon stood across from its Steel counterpart, looking timid in front of the intimidating Bug.

Round three began with a flash from one side, literally. Lairon used flash right off the bat on its own accord, blinding everyone in the room. Jacob during the confusion, commanded a Mud Slap attack, which hit spot on the Scizor. It retaliated with a Swords Dance, powering up its quickly used Bullet Punch. It followed up that move with an Iron Head attack, dealing another small amount of damage. Lairon proceeded to try to Body Slam its opponent, but missed right out, which allowed Scizor to land a devastating Superpower attack. Luckily, the timid Lairon used Iron Defense before the move hit. It still took a lot of damage, and could hardly move, which made it very easy to finish off with another Swords Dance, Bullet Punch combination. Lairon was down for the count.

"YES! YES! ERIKA IS TO BE MY WIFE!" Green was way too excited about his new engagement, while Jacob stood across the room saddened by his defeat. He didn't know whether to feel sorry to Lairon, which he had never used in a battle before, or his sister, who lost a bet that was riding on him.

Erika could only watch and giggle at her new fiancé. "Jacob, don't worry about me, I was waiting for this to happen!" Her explanation didn't make him feel any better about the loss, it was the first loss he had in a while.

"Sorry Lairon, for making you battle when you weren't ready…" Lairon looked up at him, and could only smile. The reaction was unexpected an made Jacob happy again. "So when's the wedding you two?"

His question was drowned out by a frantic 12 year old girl shouting, "MY TURN MY TURN MY TURN MY TURN!"


	53. Ch 53: Seeing MORE Green & A Date?

Author's note: Happy thanksgiving all! I hope you enjoy a wonderful turkey day (for those of you in America such as myself) and have a wonderful weekend!

Chapter 53 Seeing MORE Green & A Date?!

Heidi readied herself across the room from Green, where Jacob stood.

"I want a one on one battle! So choose your pokemon!"

"Ok, ok, jeez, what a feisty girl. At least let me be happy for my wedding! It's gonna be big! With a cake the size of a Blastoise and-"

"COME OOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN~!"

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! Charizard! Go!"

"Go, my Squirtle!"

"Hahaha! You think a Squirtle's gonna beat a Charizard?!"

"You never know!" Heidi winked and the pokemon went into action.

Squirtle went into action with a Rapid Spin, Water Gun combo, doing a good amount of damage to the obviously type-challenged Charizard. It grabbed the spinning shell in midair, and used a painful seismic toss attack. Squirtle's shell took the brunt of the attack, protecting it from massive amounts of damage. Its Bubble attack missed closely as the Charizard took to the air, flying in circles above the vertically challenged Squirtle. More water guns missed, while Charizard used Heat Wave. The attack did little to the Water-type, but it threw the Squirtle off balance. The Flying/Fire-type dove in at this opportunity to land its Fly attack, and took back to the sky to fire Flamethrowers down upon the Squirtle. Water guns doused each and every long-range move, so Charizard dove in one more time.

The bad decision led to a direct hit from a Water Pulse attack, confusing the Charizard which tumbled on the ground and came to a stop in front of Green. It started to fire Embers and Flamethrowers in different directions, hurling one at the feet of the Squirtle. It dodged gracefully with a Rapid Spin and began a Rain Dance. The battlefield was now being rained upon by a small storm cloud in the air, and Green could see that the battle was close to over.

Squirtle dashed up to its opponent and landed a harsh Aqua Tail, bringing the comparative giant down to its knees. A direct Water Gun to the face just about finished it off, when Charizard pulls out its trump card. Fire starts shooting up from the ground and hurtles outwards in all directions stemming from Charizard. Squirtle couldn't possibly avoid an attack of this magnitude, and is forced to retreat into its shell in order to survive the attack. The smoke soon clears to reveal an extremely tired Charizard, and a Squirtle that won't retreat from its shell. Charizard hobbles over to its opponent to pick it up one more time. It notices something strange about the shell… it seems bigger than the last time he held it in his hands… As the shelled pokemon emerged, it opened its mouth wide and fired a long torrent of water directly to the body of its opponent. The Hydro Pump won the battle for Heidi and- Squirlte?

"Squirtle! That was amazing!" Heidi runs over to her pokemon to discover that it isn't the adorable tiny-turtle pokemon it once was. With wings for ears and a longer feathery tail, Heidi embraced her Wartortle as the victor in the battle.

"It's embarrassing isn't it Jacob? You couldn't win the badge, yet a 12 year old girl did!"

"Isn't it more embarrassing to lose to that 12 year old girl Green?"

"Touché… But it doesn't matter! _Brother._"

"Oh Arceus kill me now. Why him Erika?"

"He's, in a word, charming.." She blushes without realizing it and hides her face behind her Hoppip.

"Hahaha! She called me charming!" His loss didn't even affect his vitality. Green jumped around the room in joy because of his earlier victory.

"HEY! I need an Earth badge over here!"

"Oh, yeah, here, follow- _MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_!" Green gracefully flew out of the room with Heidi sprinting closely behind.

"Hey! Wait up!" Their shoes beating the tile of the hallway eventually faded.

"So you're gonna have to battle again to get that badge!"

"I will!... and NO I won't help set up for your dumb wedding! What did you mean that you waited for this to happen too?"

"Well, I do like Green but I didn't want to marry him just yet. I needed a… dramatic excuse. Teehee!" Jacob gives her a soft slap upside the head.

"You're a real jerk, making a man wait is rude."

"Oh hush." Erika sticks out her tongue in Jacob's direction.

* * *

"So while they're at the gym, what do you want to do?"

"Dunno… something though." Mike didn't want to make it too painfully obvious he wanted to spend time with Alexandra in some form.

"Well… how about a movie?" She hops on the bed next to him, and grabs the remote to scroll through the movie channels. "OH! I LOVE THIS ONE!" She stops on a channel showing the movie "A Psyduck Romance," which luckily just started.

"What's it about?"

"It's a poke-movie, which means no human actors,-"

"I already knew _THAT _much-"

"-whatever, anyway, a Psyduck falls in love with an Eevee, but the Eevee is in love with a Quilava! It's such a cute story!" She sits up with her hands pulling her feet in, her knee accidentally poking Mike in the side.

"Ow. Your knee."

"Oh! Sorry. I'm just excited because I haven't seen this movie in such a long time!" She sits up straight again, smiling as the opening credits scroll.

"They'll be gone for a while, we should do more than watch a movie."

"But I don't wanna get dressed now that I'm already so comfy." It was true, he didn't want to leave his pajamas too. Her knee started to poke him again.

"If you want I can move to the other bed-"

"No, I'm sorry, I'll try to restrain myself." She laughed at her comment and went back to focusing on the movie. Mike got up, walked to his bag, and pulled out a ball. His Alakazam came out.

"Wanna get some popcorn? You know where it is. Right?" The Alakazam nodded and teleported. No less than 10 seconds later, Alakazam reappeared in the same spot with a small box. "Thanks so much buddy!" Alakazam walks to the corner of the room and assumes a meditative stance.

"You didn't have to do that," Alexandra playfully exclaims.

"Well we can't have a movie without popcorn!" He throws a small bag that came from the box into the microwave.

Alexandra giggles, "It's just a silly movie, no need to go all out."

"Ok, fine, I'll take the popcorn out-"

"No, no, it's ok. I like popcorn!" She smiles at him. The movie starts rolling. He sits down in the bed next to her, nothing but the popcorn separating them. The movie is actually pretty funny, the two viewers sharing an occasional laugh. Mike will sometimes inch a bit closer, with no reaction from Alexandra, who seems to be really into the movie.

The popcorn soon runs out, only maybe 40 minutes into the movie. There's only another hour or so left so Mike makes some more popcorn for the both of them. Alexandra only yells at him playfully because the popping is louder than the TV, to which he chuckles at her. The popcorn's done and Mike assumes the position he was in before he got up. Alexandra pays no mind and only continues to focus on the movie, reaching for popcorn often. The two reach for the bag at the same time and their hands collide. Mike pulls his back expecting one of those clichéd scenes where his partner would look at him too and they'd share a giggle, but Alexandra would have none of that. She only wanted her popcorn and continued to shovel it down.

Mike told himself he'll try again somehow.

The opportunity never came though. The movie ended with an ovation from Alexandra and a sigh from Mike.

"It's still pretty early, wanna go out and do something?"

"Sure! I've needed to do some shopping for a while!" Shopping… He dreaded the thought but figured it's worth it if he's with her. The clock says 2:10 PM when the two head out the door towards the nearest mart. It doesn't take much time at all to find one, and while Alexandra bounces inside, Mike takes note of her more-revealing attire: a turquoise skirt with a matching top that looks more than perfect on her. Summer has ended but Alexandra dressed like it was about to begin. Mike was only wearing a conservative black t-shirt with red trim and black jeans. He follows his counterpart into the shop, where she's already fawning over some trinkets.

The old lady behind the counter asks, "Oh, are you her boyfriend!?"

"N-NO! N-nothing like that!" He starts to blush then realizes he answered way too quickly and now she might get the wrong idea. While silently cursing himself he walks over to Alexandra and asks, "So… watcha lookin at?"

"Oh! Just this adorable little necklace!" She holds up a necklace with a small charm in the shape of a Marill. "I'm gonna buy it!"

"Let me!"

"Haha, it's okay, I have the money for it."

Mike gives up and goes around to the other side of the shelf where he finds a collection of small pokemon dolls. He can see every single pokemon ranging from Caterpie to Regirock, but instead picks out a small Azumarill doll. It has a large smile and tiny body parts, and he figures it's just what the doctor ordered.

"Hey, Alex, look at this!"

She comes walking around to see the small doll in his hands, "Oh my God it's soo adorable! Gimme! I wanna hold it!"

He holds his arms up just out of her reach, forcing her to hop up to try to grab it. "Hahah! you gotta try if you want it!"

After a few seconds she pouts dejectedly and looks up at him with big sad eyes. "Okay, okay, here, you can have it!"

"YAY!" She runs to the counter with the doll and the necklace in her hands. "How much for these?"

The old woman carefully examines each object, giving the final verdict, "Aaaahhhh, 40,000 pokeyen.

"WHAT!? Why so much!?"

"That necklace is an heirloom made one hundred and thirty years ago by a tribe of people that worshipped the Marill and its evolutionary family. The doll though is only 500."

"Well… okay…-" Mike slams down four 10,000 pokeyen bills at the counter.

"She'll buy it!"

"Wha-"

"Ok then!" The old lady rings up the necklace and doll at the same time, and hand them back in a small plastic bag.

"Wai-"

"Aren't you happy you have it now?" Mike smiles down at her, but she looks sad for some reason.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Well why not?"

"You wasted your money on it!" She pouts at him again, "It could have been used for something more useful than a necklace."

"I don't think it's a waste if it's for you…" Mike blushes again, turning his head away from Alexandra.

"Haha, well thanks then! I really appreciate it!" She looks up and gives him a big smile. The two walk out of the store to go find more places to shop.


	54. Ch 54: Journey to the Center of Mt Moon

Chapter 54 Journey to the Center of Mt. Moon

"It's about damn time you losers got out of the hospital."

"It's not my fault that someone broke the stitches on my arm BILL."

"Jeez Len, how was I supposed to know wheelchair chicken was a bad idea?"

"Well… it was fun, I'll give you that… but having Roy as my partner?"

"HEY, I did a damn good job and you know it!"

"Hahaha, you people. I'm just glad I bailed off last second."

"Yeah! Why'd you do that!? We were gonna win John!"

"Because I didn't want to die Bill."

"Well whatever. Let's get walking already, my ass is starting to hurt from sitting here for so long." Roy's suggestion leads the four to begin walking towards Mt. Moon again. They continued to stop and go along Route 3 because of collective laziness and catching up. Roy, being a new member, had many stories to tell, not only for entertainment but also to prove he was indeed Steven Stone's brother. Len and John believed him after a few hours of debating, on what his shoe size was, on photos that may or may not have been doctored, they even went as far as to ask for a birth certificate; But with Bill's endorsement, they gave up and accepted the fact.

"Ya know Roy, it was nice of Bill to give you that Dubious Disc so you could evolve your Porygon 2 whenever you wanted."

"Yeaahhhh but I'm not gonna do that any time soon, I figure I'll wait to evolve him, Len."

Antonio left the hospital a day earlier than the others, assured by [smart/computer geek] Bill that he would be fine in helping him complete the master ball. They weren't sure how long it would take, but when it comes down to it, Bill will send out a pokemon with a package for them. They each gave him a "clean" sock so the pokemon chosen can have each of their scents. When it's done one of them will get it.

A rustling in the bushes catches Len's attention. They were nearing the base of the mountain so he was hoping to see a certain Dark-type pokemon that lives in rough terrains- nope, it was an Aipom.

"Dammit!"

"What Len?"

"I want to find a Larvitar or something!"

Bill points to the sky, "How about one of those?" He's pointing at a small flock of Honchcrow and Murkrow above, which are clearly out of range.

"How am I supposed to catch one of those?"

John whips out a pokeball, "Like this." Typhlosion comes exploding out of its pokeball, firing a Fire Blast straight up into the middle of the flock, causing each one of the Dark/Flying-types to charge headlong into the four of them. Roy and Bill run ahead, away from the two being tortured, shouting something about this being their battle and how they're going to watch. Len flings a pokeball out, Sneasel making an entrance. It uses an Icy Wind attack, freezing a few of the Murkrow, but the Honchcrow are still attacking. Typhlosion uses an Eruption, knocking out a few more Murkrow, but the Honchcrow just won't give up. Sneasel hits one in the beak with a Metal Claw attack, forcing it to spit something out. It followed up with an Ice Punch, knocking it out. The two other Honchcrow flee in terror as its fellow Dark-type has betrayed them. Leaving behind several fainted Murkrow and one Honchcrow.

"So take your pick."

"You're an asshole John." Len tosses a ball at the Honchcrow, which now belongs to him. After picking up the ball and returning it to its bag, Len leaves some food for the Murkrow for when they wake up. "Hey, where's Sneasel?"

Sneasel ran off to find the thing that came out of Honchcrow's mouth landed. It was particularly shiny and he wanted to find it fast.

"Oh, there he is. What are you doing over there?" Sneasal tries its best to explain in its pokemonese that he was looking for something, but couldn't find it. Len lets it jabber then continue looking for another few minutes. It came back joyful as it had picked up a Razor Claw. "Nice dude! Now you can evolve soon!" The Sneasel smiled and jumped for joy at its pass towards evolution. Len returned it to its ball after another short while.

"That looked like fun."

"Thanks for abandoning us guys, it was a blast!" The sarcasm could be heard in Len's voice, giving Roy the opportunity to chuckle at his false anger. It didn't last long though because they eventually made it to the mouth of the cave at the foot of the mountain known as Mt. Moon.

"So who's goin in fir-"

"NOSE GOES!"

Everyone but Roy was able to hit their nose in time, forcing him to be the first into the dark and gloomy cave.

"Torchie." He tosses the ball up, and Torchie the Blaziken comes out calmly. "I'm gonna need some help. Light it up in there."

The two stand outside the entrance, where Blaziken then hurls fire balls towards the ceiling of the cave. It sustains a light, then fades away, revealing a dozen thousand Zubat inside.

"It shouldn't be too much of a problem, only-" as he takes a step inside a swarm of Zubat start attacking him and his Blaziken. Luckily he only stumbles back out of the entrance into daylight, where the Zubat retreat into the cave.

"Huh. That's odd….."

"OH YA THINK?!" Roy was angry because he certainly didn't expect a flurry of Zubat on top of him, like any other trainer that ventures into a dark cave.

"Does someone have a pokemon with flash?"

"Shouldn't your Porygon know that?" Bill suggested.

"Oh… crap… it does…. hahahaa….." Roy's awkward laugh was shrugged off as the Porygon 2 lit up the cave, forcing the Zubat inside to scurry about and bump into one another repeatedly because of their being startled. "Looks good to me from here guys! Let's get a move on!"

A few hours of exploring passes quickly, with no notable events taking place. The cave is still brightly lit thanks to Porygon 2 and his flash. The others have been attempting and failing to catch pokemon they've seen about the cave, Len was even close to catching a Sableye at one point. There were almost too many Dark-types wandering around, but the one he really wanted to find was super-rare and extremely unlikely to find. Especially considering Larvitar and Pupatar weren't native to Kanto.

"It doesn't hurt to try looking for one you know!"

"Yeah but it's very unlikely you'll actually find it." John, being the resident smart-guy of the group, informed Len of the almost 1% chance that a single Larvitar actually inhabits this cave, let alone a family of the evolutionary line.

"Yeah whatever, you think there'll be at least one, right Bill?" He was looking for some encouragement.

"I dunno, John knows a lot of stuff, and that stuff sounds totally legit." Len frowns.

"Eh, whatever. It's not like I need one or anything. I got my NEWLY EVOLVED HOUNDOOM with me!" His Houndoom, which was walking next to him, barked happily and enthusiastically.

"Hey… what's that?" Roy points over toward a few guys in black garb digging into a wall, muttering something about a specific fossil they need to find. To the left of them there were obvious signs of digging into the surface of the wall, and piles of debris.

"Maybe they're fossil hunters? You could find a lot of cool pokemon by looking for their fossils." John's insight leads Roy to believe they're friendly and would like some help.

"Hey, do you guys need some-"

"GET AWAY FROM HERE KID."

"Well then! I was just gonna offer some help!"

"TEAM ROCKET DOESN'T NEED ANY HELP FROM A SNOT-NOSED BRAT LIKE YOU." The mention of the devious organization forces the four trainers to get ready for a showdown.

"The hell is Team Rocket doing here?"

"None of your goddamn business, now get lost before you're sorry you stayed." The same guy kept replying to their questions. He stood up and turned to the trainers, now towering over even Bill. "Get lost NOW. Or we will end your fu-"

"Guy! We hit something!" Another Rocket member was talking about a hard metallic surface he made contact with while digging. They all began to dust it off and decided this was the fossil they were looking for. Len snickered, not only because of the irony in the fact that it wasn't a fossil, but also in the irony of John's previous comments. The "fossil" opened its eyes, and used Crunch on the nearest Rocket, nearly completely separating his shoulder from the rest of his body. It proceeded to use Rock Slide on the three Rockets, rendering them all unconscious.

"TOLD YOU THERE WERE PUPATAR HERE!" At the mention of its name, the evolved form of Larvitar began attacking the other four trainers, not knowing they weren't with Team Rocket. It began charging directly at them, but was turned away by a Sky Uppercut from Torchie, knocking it out instantly. "What did I tell you?"

"It's weak as hell, the Blaziken took it out in one shot."

"Double weakness to fighting Bill. And it doesn't matter, I'm catching me a Pupatar!" He drops an Ultraball on it to ensure the catch, and he is now the proud owner of a fainted Pupatar.

"Yeah, YOU'RE WELCOME LEN."

"Hey, hey, I never said I wouldn't thank you!" He walks past Roy, giving Torchie a hug instead of Roy.

"Thanks Torchie, couldn't have caught him without you!"

"Oh screw you."

"You love me."

"Yeah whatever." The unconscious Rockets are left behind to their devices. The group figured if they're only looking for a fossil then it's not life-threatening enough to turn them in to the authorities. Anyone can look for a fossil, really. But the real problem was they had already unearthed several different dome, and helix fossils, and there weren't known to be any others within Mt. Moon.

The rest of the journey through Mt. Moon doesn't take much longer, and they soon find themselves on the other side of Route 3. It wasn't dark yet, and the road to Pewter City wasn't exactly short, but the final push to town allowed them enough time to grab a bite to eat and find a small hotel near Viridian Forest. The four slept like logs, one having especially sweet dreams about his new acquisitions today.


	55. Ch 55: This Damn Forest! & Introductions

Chapter 55 This Damn Forest! & Introductions

"Jesus christ, how the hell do new trainers come through this forest each and every year?"

"I don't know but they're freaking lucky if they don't have to deal with crap like this!" Roy and John had accidentally gotten themselves separated from the other two in a horrible accident. Well, not so much horrible as much as it was incredibly stupid. Long story short, Houndoom + Beedrill Nest = tons of angry Beedrill.

"It's like something out of a cartoon! This is goddamn ridiculous Roy!"

"I would use Torchie but he can't possibly take on this many Beedrill at once!" The two take a sharp turn around a large tree and duck underneath a bush. The dozens of Beedrill hover around for a few minutes before giving up the search and going back to their hive. "Well that was… entertaining."

"Holy hell." John was not used to bug pokemon attacking _him. _"Well, from what I now see, we have two options. One, we go to Viridian and meet Bill and Len there, or we can look for them here and go together." The swarm of Beedrill fly overhead again. Roy looks John in the eyes.

"They'll live without us." The to wait until the Beedrill finally give up their search, and start sprinting south. After about a minute they tired themselves out to the point where they were both dehydrated, and stopped just as fast as they started.

"That was not a very smart idea," Roy said angrily.

"I don't see you coming up with anything good," John lashed back.

"Whatever. Let's keep moving!" The two run south more, dodging trees an pokemon alike. They're surely out of range of the Beedrill, but they continue to run just to be sure. The two reach a clearing, halfway through the woods. "Out of the frying pan into the fire, huh?"

* * *

"Where the hell did Roy and John go?"

"Who the hell knows… but we gotta find them soon."

"Lucky for us they were the ones that attracted the Beedrill while we ran the other way!"

"It's cruel but they'll understand. Nobody can stay mad at you Bill." The two are casually strolling down a dirt path, Umbreon and Ninetales walking side-by-side.

"Yeah, it's a problem." He smiles with his reply, "I'm sure we'll find 'em eventually." They continued to take their time southward towards Viridian. The air was lovely, the Taillow in the trees fluttering about from branch to branch, the rare sight of a Pikachu tail in a rustling bush only to dash away in a hurry. It was peaceful. "I wonder how my family is doing."

"Well it's not like anything bad is happening there. I should call my parents soon, and let them know I'm okay."

"I should tell them we got separated from your sister too."

"Oh yeah," Len punches Bill in the arm as hard as he can, "You asshole."

"What? Jacob found her! We'll be fiiiii-," another punch hits him in the same spot.

"Doesn't mean you can just up and lose my sister."

"It was either you or her, and Mike likes her anyway, he was bound to go help he-" another punch.

"You left her with two guys that like her-"

"And a twelve year old girl!"

"Yeah, that makes everything better doesn't it?" Bill shrugs.

"Well sorry for helping to save you!"

"I love you Bill."

"I love you too."

The dirt trail continued to wind south for about another half hour until it reached a clearing where Bill and Len found their not-so-long lost friends in a heated double battle. A Beautifly and a Dragonair versus their Volcarona and Gabite. Where the dragons came from was a mystery to those who didn't own it. The two they were facing weren't rockets, but that didn't mean they weren't fighting with their all. A Dragon Rush nearly finished off the Dragonair in one go, but Beautifly followed up with a Silverwind. It wasn't very effective but it raised its stats just a little. The Volcarona's Heat Wave flat out finished the Beautifly, and Roy's Gabite Dragon Rushed again to finish the Dragonair. It seems as though they missed a large part of the battle as what they saw ended quickly.

"Damn man, I didn't think my Dragonair would have competition in this forest," said the taller of the two boys battling John and Roy.

"I think my Beautifly needs to see a Nurse Joy…"

"Oh you guys, you knew from the start messing around with me would be a losing fight," John enthusiastically exclaimed to the two boys in front of him.

"So John, who are they exactly?"

"Oh, oh hey Bill, Len, these are some friends of mine from Goldenrod. They're here for…"

"We are visiting our grandmother in Pewter City to make sure she's well. With all this Rocket business going around we needed to see if she was doing alright!" The taller boy who sounded extremely pretentious, was wearing thick rimmed glasses, and was your typical bookworm, pocket protector on his shirt and fanny pack as if to seal the deal. The shorter boy next to him, presumably his younger brother, was a small timid boy, about the age of 11. He hid behind the taller boy throughout the conversation.

"Well it was nice battling you guys again. I'm sure you'll get better Rory!" John goes to pat the smaller boy on the head but he pulls away. He sees this reaction and shakes his other friend's hand as they go back down the road in the opposite direction.

"So you leave us to die from Beedrill and battle people from your hometown?" Len scoffed.

"Well it was a fun battle! I think my guy is gonna become a Garchomp soon!" Roy jumped and hugged his Gabite, and began to rub its stomach; the original discoloration is long gone.

"And when that happens that's when we die."

"Shut up Len, you forget Torchie could whup your ass anyway!"

"Oh shut up. the only reason is because he's fighting and all my pokemon are Dark!"

"Sorry you like the pokemon my favorite is super effective against."

"Shuddup." Len, John, Roy, and Bill turn southward again, on the road to Viridian City.

* * *

"DAMMIT! WHY CAN'T I BEAT YOU!?"

"Shit Jacob, you should really pull yourself together! I'm getting tired of beating you day after day!" Green smirked at Jacob. The last three days he's tried and failed at defeating the eighth Gym Leader. His Metang never stands a chance, Snorlax does well enough, Magneton still doesn't seem close to evolving, and Exploud still hardly takes commands. On the bright side Heidi's egg hatched an adorable Magby that cowers in fear whenever it sees her Arcanine, so something of positive influence happened.

"Oh Green, go easy on him! For me?" Erika tries to help her brother by sounding hopeful with her statement.

"No can-do ma'm, I'm a Gym Leader, and Gym Leaders have to have integrity!"

"Oh fine~!" She giggles as she makes for the front door, outside of which Heidi is training with her pokemon, specifically Magby and Eevee. The day is soon coming that she'll use the fire stone on Eevee to make it a Flareon, but she wants to keep it a cute and cuddly Eevee for a bit longer.

"Come on Green. Lemme win one."

"Heyull naw! I love whupping you!"

"Yeah well, we'll see when I become Gym Leader!"

"What type? Loser? Hahahaha!" Jacob can appreciate the joke but knows he still has to come back tomorrow for another Gym Challenge rematch.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it, your pokemon are too strong, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah, don't you have wedding planning to do?"

"Oh shoot you're right! Lemme go-"

"NOT SO FAST GREEN! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!" A silhouette standing at the door that has been visibly kicked in was shouting at Green. In after him came three more silhouettes and some murmuring: "John you didn't have to kick that hard!"  
"Yeah stupid, you could've broken the door!"  
"Whatever, I made my statement!"

In after them came running a small recognizable figure. "Hey Jacob! Look who I found!"

The reunion was the most magnificent thing that could have ever come out of a romance novel, but better, because it was a bromance. The group involving Len, John, Bill, and Jacob all came together in one large group hug as, "The band finally gets back together." Roy comes walking in after the reunion.

"Sup guys?"

"Roy, this is Jacob, Jacob, Roy Stone," As John introduces them Jacob recognizes him.

"Hey, didn't I battle you outside of Saffron?"

"Yeah, we ended it in a draw…"

"So what you're telling me is… the little brother of the greatest champion to ever live was only able to tie in a battle with me? Yeah, you must be Steven's little brother!"

"Shut up, you know I am."

"Well I can't tell you to prove it because there's no possible way."

"We could try another battle."

"I would but I'm trying to conserve their energy for Green over there."

"HEEY GUYS!"

As a group they respond, "Hii Green."

"By the way," Jacob continues, "That's my new brother-in-law."

"Oh, I have an idea. Hey Green, can you come over here for a sec?" Roy waves him over in an effort to prove his validity in the fact that he is Steven Stone's younger brother. "Do you recognize me?"

"Hmmmmmmmm…." Green needs to think long and hard about this one. "You were at some sort of event…. with Gym Leaders and Champions… RIGHT THE LEADER TOURNAMENT LAST SPRING! I saw you there with Steven! Damn he was a good battler!"

"See?"

Jacob is still in disbelief, "Green is he really Steven Stone's brother?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I only saw him there with Steven, and from what I know no one can simply walk up to Steven Stone and not be intimidated. So probably?" He tilts his head to the side, then asks quizzically, "So who's my next challenger?"


	56. Ch 56: Knock it off Green

Author's note: Sometimes I feel that my battle sequences are too short, although I try to keep them realistic. What do you guys think?

Chapter 56: Knock it off Green

John and Len decided a double battle versus the last Gym Leader was appropriate. A 2v2 with no substitutions is what's called. Len and John go with a Houndoom and Forretress (to which Len questioned "Why?").

"He's the first pokemon I ever had! It's only appropriate I win my last gym badge with him!"

"Well okay then!"

Green releases his pokemon: Golduck and Scizor. The match begins quickly with a Bullet punch to the Fortress, which counters quickly with an equally as effective tackle attack. Houndoom tries to hit it with a Flamethrower but Golduck intercepts with a Bubblebeam. It starts using Aqua Jet at the fire type, but it is turned away by a Mirror Shot from Forretress. Another Metal Claw soon makes contact with Forretress, which made it spin on its axis. Forretress used this momentum to create a powerful Rapid Spin attack, which makes full contact with the Golduck. An Ember comes flying out of Houndoom's mouth, but is easily dodged as Scizor rushes towards it preparing an X-Scissor attack. Forretress couldn't deflect it, but Houndoom and Len were able to think quickly.

A Sucker Punch attack throws Scizor off balance and it misses completely, allowing an opportunity for a hard Fire Blast to make direct contact with its body. Scizor was nearly taken out by this one attack, while on the other side of the field Forretress was dealing with Golduck flawlessly. A Payback attack after a harsh Bubblebeam did a lot of damage, but Golduck saw an opening in Houndoom's defense from across the floor. An Aqua Jet to its back legs, nearly knocking it out indefinitely, but it tried to pounce in retaliation. A Bite attack did some more damage, pinning the Golduck so Forretress could take it out with a Zap Cannon attack. Scizor, seeing its partner go down, counter-attacks with another swift Bullet Punch to finish off Houndoom. It came down to the two Steel-Bug types.

Forretress was the first to act, solidifying its defenses with an Iron Defense. As Scizor took the time to use Swords Dance Forretress hit the ground on its side and began using Rollout. It was dodged closely a few times before finally running into its counterpart at full speed. Now nearly taken out, Scizor gets hit hard with a Heavy Slam attack, but was able to turn it away in order to land a few more Bullet Punches. A Night Slash also did little damage, and a quick Slash attack also did nothing big. Forretress only needed one more hit with a Gyro Ball to finish off its opponent, as Green's pokemon were finally finished off.

"That was fun. You guys deserve the badge!"

"Goddamnit! How come you guys can win and I can't!?" Len smugly answers.

"Because you aren't nearly as good looking as the both of us!"

"Shut up Len! Your pokemon fainted before the battle was over!" Jacob's rebuttal fell on deaf ears as Len and John ran over to their pokemon to congratulate them on a job well done, then to Green for their badges, which were promptly given to them. Now Jacob was the only League contender without the Earthbadge in his group of friends.

"Feeling left out bro?"

"Oh, you think Heidi?"

"I know I'd be able to beat him just by watching that battle."

"Shut up Roy."

"Hey Roy, can I battle you!?"

"Sure, but I'll go easy on you." Heidi puffs her face in anger at him. She knows what pokemon she's using now…

"Fine, what pokemon do you want to use?"

"I guess I'll use my Yanmega then."

"Heeheehee, my Arcanine will have fun!" The two go outside to their own battlefield around the back of the Gym. Jacob just sits in his own corner, releases Togetic and plays with her for a little bit. Not five minutes later Heidi comes bouncing back into the room happily.

"Didja win?" Roy shambles in with a horrified look on his face.

"Yep! He didn't know grandpa Blaine's Arcanine was with me!"

"W-when she told me she was Blaine's granddaughter I didn't believe her…. Then HER ARCANINE happened…"

"Hey, I only found out she was Blaine's granddaughter after her parents told me!" Jacob laughs, Alexandra the Togetic giggles, and Roy falls on his knees next to Jacob.

"And I thought your Metang was tough… jeez…"

"So _Mr. Stone_, care to prove to me now that you're Steven's brother."

"Oh shut up." Roy released Torchie and laid on his back, using his arms as a pillow.

_"Should have let me battle, teach her what a real fire-type is like."_

"Oh quiet you, I thought Yanmega would have had her."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Torchie, who else?"

"You can talk to your pokemon?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"So you're Steven's brother AND you can talk to pokemon? Pssh, that's extremely difficult to believe."

"Ask Bill. He talks to his Ninetales on a regular basis."

"He's over there with Green. I'll ask him later." Roy knows Jacob won't.

_"Is he skeptical?"_

"Of course he is. Aren't you used to it by now?"

"Hey, how long did it take for you to 'talk' to your pokemon?"

"I don't really know, it just happened over time."

"So why can't I talk to my Metang, or my Snorlax yet?"

"Because they aren't as good as Torchie."

"Is that a challenge?"

Heidi butts in, "Don't do it Jake!"

"Huh, why not?"

"Because he'll just cry again after you beat him!"

"HAHAHAHA HE CRIED!?"

"NO I didn't! She's just making that up!"

"Doubt it." Jacob winks at Roy who gets more flustered.

"AGH REMATCH, OUTSIDE HEIDI!"

"Hee-hehee! Okay!" The two walk back outside, Torchie following suit. Jacob goes back to playing with Alexandra the Togetic.

"Can you understand me Alexandra?" Togetic trills and lands on Jacob's chest. "Hmm. Can you talk to me?" Togetic yawns and starts speaking in its pokemonic language. Jacob can't hear a word it's saying other than, "Toge-tochika-togetoge, priiii! Tochi-toge-to-to-tochika!" Well that was helpful. Jacob lays his head back down and Roy comes walking back into the room triumphantly with Torchie, not even a scratch on it.

"That was fast."

"Her Noctowl didn't stand a chance."

Heidi comes stomping in angrily, obviously on the verge of tears. "YOU BIG FAT UGLY MEANIE!" She continues to stomp across the room towards Green, Erika, and the others.

"I assume you kicked her butt."

"Across the floor."

"That's not nice."

"She asked for it."

"Whatever." Jacob goes back to petting his Togetic, it giggles and licks his hand in the process. "Hey Togetic, do you want to evolve soon?" It ponders this for a few moments, then nods, smiles, and goes back to giggling happily. "Do you want to evolve now?" Alexandra nodded. "Why's that?" It flies into the air above him and simulates a battle sequence. He can tell it wants to use Aura Sphere and powerful moves like that, but can't make it happen right now. She tries acting out an enemy pokemon, probably one of Green's pokemon, struggling to battle, and can't run away, then she switches back to herself, using another powerful attack it doesn't yet know to finish off its fake opponent. "Oh you want to battle too?" She trills and nods vigorously, thinking "I want to help you win no matter what!"

Jacob reaches into his bag and pulls out the Shiny stone. He fiddles around with it in his hand for a few moments, then puts it back in the bag, making Togetic angry. "Soon though, you'll evolve soon…. or actually… he pulls out the stone again and yells across the room, "Hey Green! What pokemon will you use to battle me next?"

"You can't battle me till tomorrow!"

"Aww, come on, just one more chance today, pleaaaasseee?"

"Ok fine, probably Exeggutor. Why?"

"No reason!" He holds up the stone to Togetic. "Are you ready?" Togetic nods and begins to glow.


	57. Ch 57: Togekiss & New Beginnings

Chapter 57 Togekiss & New Beginnings

"Alright, this'll be the last time I battle you before you give up."

"It's all I'll need." Togekiss floats around Jacob gently as the two prepare for battle.

"Alright, come on Exeggutor." The giant tree-like pokemon hobbles over towards the battlefield. "I'm getting sick and tired of you Jacob."

"Then give me the badge and let me go."

"Hell no."

"Then let me win."

"Hell no."

"Then shut up and battle me until I do win!"

"Whatever whatever, let's just get this over with!"

The two pokemon take their positions, Roy, Heidi, John, Len, and Bill obviously supporting Jacob in this battle.

"Ready Alexandra?"

The Togekiss doesn't answer, but starts attacking instead. A psychic showdown is the first thing to happen between the two pokemon, each using Extrasensory. Exeggutor's is stronger, throwing Togekiss halfway across the battlefield. It followed up with a Leaf Storm attack, that was blown away by an Air Cutter. Alexandra used Metronome which became a huge Thunder attack, not doing much to the Grass-type, but paralyzing it nonetheless. Exeggutor tried to get close and use Stomp but Togekiss was slightly faster, using Ancientpower to not only do some damage but also boost its stats. It's next Air Cutter attack is much more powerful, and hits Exeggutor for a critical hit, hitting it down a few notches, but not before it uses an Egg Bomb attack. It hits Togekiss just as hard because it's a weaker pokemon, but it still doesn't back down.

A missed Stun Spore led Alexandra to swoop in close and land a hard Double-Edge, also doing damage to itself. An easy Stomp attack nearly took out Alexandra right there, but this allowed it to pull out all the stops in its next attack: Last Resort. Togekiss started to glow a mixture of colors, and hurtled itself at its opponent at a high speed, landing the attack right in the center of its body. The Exeggutor fell to the ground in a thud and couldn't stand back up. Its legs were wobbling in the air as it struggled to try to lift up its own body. It could do nothing but roll around, and when it tried to sit back up, Togekiss was there to hit it with another Last Resort attack, knocking it out this time.

"YES! YES I FINALLY WON!"

"Yeah, and it's about damn time too dude, like, jeez, it took you forever!"

"Just a couple of days! And thank you sooo much Alexandra!" Togekiss trilled happily and collapsed on top of Jacob. "Oof! Hey, you're heavier than before! You can't just sit down on my shoulder anymore!" It took flight again, but slowly because it has been greatly weakened in the battle. Jacob gives it one last hug before putting it back into its Luxury Ball. "I'm gonna go heal this, I'll be back later!" He dashes out the door down the hill to the pokemon center as happy as he can be.

Erika inside realizes that she had forgotten something: "Oh! I have to return your pokemon! The ones you left at my home!" Directing the statement to Len and John, she goes into the back room, and a small herd of pokemon dash out towards their owners, extremely happy to see them again.

While Jacob runs into the pokemon center he sees a familiar figure at the counter, it's Alexandra! "Hey! Alex! Guess what!" She turns around and smiles.

"Hey Jacob! Did you finally win?"

"Yeah! I finally beat Green," he holds the luxury ball up high, "And Alexa- err, Togekiss helped me do it!"

"Congratulations! But… What were you about to say…?"

"Oh, er… I, uh, kinda… kindanamedmytogepiafteryou." He blushes and looks down at the black ball in his hand.

"Aww, that's really sweet!" She giggles and smiles which doesn't help Jacob's blushing.

"Well, uh, yeah, UH NURSE JOY! Please, uh, take my pokemon?"

"Sure, we'll have it out in a minute."

"So what are you doing here Alexandra?"

"Oh, Mike got into a battle and got beaten pretty badly by some guy."

"Ah, really? What'd he look like?"

"Well, I couldn't see his face, but he wore an odd outfit. A big brown trench coat and a really cool looking hat! He sent out a Zangoose so Mike used Feraligatr, but the Zangoose turned into a Zoroark! It was so cool!"

"Haha wow! I wish I could have seen that!"

"Yeah, poor Feraligatr didn't have a chance. I kinda felt bad."

"HEY! BE QUIET!" Mike yelled from across the room at their conversation. He is obviously angry at such a loss.

"Aww, it's okay Mikey-boy, you'll win next time!"

"SHUT UP YOU. I _would _ win next time but as soon as I lost he flew away on his Flygon!"

"Oh man, such exotic pokemon being thrown around. You think he's a rare hunter?"

"Not likely. I saw him fly in on a Pidgeot."

"Yeah but it was different colors than a normal Pidgeot..." Alexandra speaks up.

Jacob responds, "You think it could have been a shiny!?"

Mike answers angrily, "Who cares. Let's just get our pokemon and leave." He gets up and retrieves his ball, "You coming Alexandra?"

"Ah, uh.."

"Did I mention Len's at the gym?"

"Oh he is!? Did he battle Green yet!?"

"Yeah, he won too! Why don't you come along Mike?"

Mike grumbles to himself, "Feh, might as well…"

"Great! Come on!" Alexandra grabs both their hands and starts making for the door.

"W-W-Wait a minute! I still need Togekiss!" Jacob tears his hand away and runs back to the desk. He obtains his black Luxury ball back and dashes towards Alexandra and Mike again, who are now on their way back to the gym. Alexandra grabs both of their hands as they run around the homes and back up the hill to where everyone is waiting. All eight members of the group are conversing happily while Erika and Green wander back into the gym, the sun now setting on the long, and glorious day.

* * *

Author's note: The first part of the saga is over with Jacob's victory over Green. We are now skipping a few months forward in time to the beginnings of the Pokemon Kanto Region League Tournament! How has the group gotten stronger? How has the team bonded? Will Jacob still be skeptical of Roy? Who will win Alexandra's love? All of this and more as the next part of Jacob's Journey begins... NOW.

* * *

A snowflake fell from the sky and landed on Heidi's reddened nose. In a small neon-pink hooded sweatshirt, a black pair of pants, green mittens, and a knit hat with Buneary ears on it; she commands her pokemon in a mock-battle against the only member of the group that can stand their ground against her. Roy, now donning grey sweatpants, a black hooded sweatshirt with golden etchings of what seems to be a tribal looking Salemence on the back of it, with fingerless gloves and his hood up, commanded Porygon Z fiercely. The contests these two held were always long and drawn out, always coming down to the last pokemon they used: Arcanine and Torchie respectively. Around the other side of the luxury hotel the group was staying in, Jacob and Mike were battling as well.

These battles were always just as fierce, though not on the same level as Roy and Heidi. The two boys wore blue jeans, Jacob wearing a grey hoodie while Mike wore a black one. Mike wore a red knit hat that matched his hair, while Jacob only wore a blue scarf with a small Munchlax sewn in on one end. Alexandra picked out and bought the scarf for Jacob as a surprise gift "just because". He hasn't taken it off since. Anyway, up in the mountains of Indigo Plateau, the League Tournament is going to start in a few days. The luxury hotel the four trainers are battling outside of was at least 30 stories tall, with John, Len, and Bill still inside, probably sleeping the day away. Meanwhile, Alexandra, in her own pair of jeans, a conservative white jacket, pink gloves and a matching Clefairy hat, was watching Mike and Jacob give it their all in this practice battle. Metang was furiously trying to hit Feraligatr, and at the same time Feraligatr couldn't land a hit itself. Although Mike wasn't in the tournament, he liked to battle Jacob anyway, as if defeating him would win Alexandra's favor.

A buzz over the PA system around the complex buzzed for a second, then a voice sputtered out, "Attention all tournament entrants! Please go to the main concourse to find out the order of when you battle! Attentio-"

"Looks like we'll chalk this one up as a draw, eh Mike?"

"Might as well. What am I at now? 12-13-5?"

"Somewhere around there. Plus you're really being a great help, I have a feeling Metang is going to evolve soon."

"Yeah yeah, get out of here." Mike smirked at his opponent and rival in love.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Jacob winks at Mike then goes around to the other side of the building to fetch Heidi, who had also had to cut her battle short with Roy.

"Aawwww, and I was so close to winning!"

"Oh quiet Heidi, Torchie was about to.. wait for it… TORCH your Arcanine!" Roy starts hysterically laughing to himself because of the horrible pun. "Oohh if you excuse me I'm gonna feed myself to a pack of Stoutland for that one." Jacob and Heidi are now walking side by side around the front of the building where they meet their other two fellow contestants, John and Len.

Jacob enthusiastically greets them, "You guys ready?"

"Hell yeah motha-Psyducker."

"Oh can it Len." A short walk to the enormous stadium takes only five minutes, with only thirty or so people waiting outside to sign in.

Jacob comments, "There are only THIS many people?!"

John gives an educated response, "Apparently a lot of people thought that because they couldn't get all 8 badges this year they couldn't compete. With the…" he signals to Heidi, "you know.."

"Ah, yeah. Well if they do give us any bullcrap we can pull the.." Jacob signals to Heidi again, "trump card."

"Hey! What are you two whispering about!?"

"Devising a strategy to take out your grandfather's Arcanine Heidi."

"Ohohohoho! You'll never be able to beat us!"

"We won't know until we try!" Len snickered as the small mass of people started filing into the building.

The registration process was short and easy. All it took was writing down your name, the names of the evolutionary families of the pokemon you're using (because if they did it by individual pokemon, and Arceus-forbid one evolve after a tournament battle, you'd have to register that pokemon AGAIN), and picking a number from one to 32. Jacob was the first one to pick, and ironically enough drew the number 1. The numbers were for what order each contestant would battle in, meaning Jacob had the first one. The rest of his friends were evenly dispersed throughout the tournament tree, barring any first-round fights of fate between friends.

Things were looking up for everyone, especially Jacob, who trained for so long to reach this pinnacle. Befriending Munchlax, Bill sending Beldum, getting Bulbasaur from Professor Oak, capturing Togepi and all his other pokemon; meeting Heidi, battling Team Rocket, protecting himself and his friends during the first invasion in Erika's gym, invading Rocket's hideout, and SilphCo. All of these events have brought him here, alongside his two best friends and a trustworthy ally. The defining moment of his life so far was only two days away, and he couldn't wait one more second.


	58. Ch 58: Jacob Vs Marcus

Author's note: Chapters from here on out for a while will be more battling and less story, but the battles are the story! lol. well there's probably going to be 20 or so chapters of just straight up tournament battling from here so i hope you enjoy the ride!

Chapter 58 Jacob VS. Marcus

7PM, the sun had set a few hours ago, and the lights in the stadium had turned on. It was cold, slightly windy, and a great night for some tournament battles. There would be four battles tonight, and according to the tree, Jacob was in the first one. Len was also lined up in the third battle of the tournament, and they realized quickly that if they were both going to win, they'd face each other in the Quarter-finals. Heidi was on the complete opposite side of the tournament tree, and John was on the same side as her. Their battles would be later in the week.

The cool wintry air was blowing in through the open door into the waiting room where Jacob, Len, and company were waiting for their battles for the night. Some were doing some last minute pep-talks to their pokemon, while others were sitting silently. The boy:girl ratio was surprisingly even, considering Jacob hasn't seen many female trainers outside of Heidi and Alexandra.

"Jacob!" An official was calling for him by the door outside. "Jacob!"

"Right here!"

Len grabbed his shoulder, "Good luck buddy."

"Thanks Len." The encouragement from his best friend was all he needed.

"Come this way," the official led him down a small hallway to a set of double doors. "You're on kid."

Jacob, feeling festive and wearing jeans for the first time in a while, with a black hoodie with the shape of a Snorlax on the back of it, walks through the double doors out onto the stadium grounds. As the first battle of the entire tournament, he needs to make a statement here. He fully trusts every one of his pokemon to win the battle at his command, and can't wait for them to unleash their full potential.

He steps into his side of the ring, the lights of the stadium against the black sky of night make the cheering of the crowd seem so much more… more epic. He can't describe it in any words other than, "This is fantastic."

The PA starts announcing from next to the referee, "LADIEEEEES AND GENTLEMEEEEENNNNN. WELCOME ALL TO THE 17TH ANNUAL POKEMON KANTO LEAGUE TOURNAMENT!" A mass of applause from all around Jacob is deafening. Shivers are shot up his spine from the thrill. "IN THIS CORNER, HAILING FROM CELADON CITY, AND THE YOUNGER SIBLING OF THEIR RESIDENT GYM LEADER, JACOOOOOOB!" The cheering of the crowd purely at the mention of his name felt fantastic. "AND IN THIS CORNER, ALL THE WAY FROM FUSCHIA CITY! MAAAAAARCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS SS!" Across from where Jacob stood there stood another boy, about the same height as him, but with short, scraggly brown hair. When hearing the crowd cheer for his name he retreated back into his black jacket. He wore jeans like Jacob's and if you couldn't see their hair you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.

"THE FIRST ROUND BATTLES WILL BE THREE ON THREE MATCHES, FIRST PERSON TO DEFEAT HIS OPPONENT'S THREE POKEMON ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND." A collective silence fell over the crowd.

"SELECT YOUR FIRST POKEMON, AND BEGIN!" Jacob instinctively whips out his Snorlax first, while his opponent struggles to throw out his first ball, a Nidoking. It didn't look threatening, much like its trainer counterpart, but it was still a Nidoking nonetheless, and Jacob had to either be cautious or-

"Nidoking! Sludge Wave!" The timid boy called the first command, and a purple ooze materialized and engulfed Jacob's pokemon. Followed up by an Ice Beam, the Snorlax was hit hard by the first gambit of the tournament. Jacob knew now that what was coming next was serious business, and he had to act accordingly.

Snorlax broke free of the sludge and looked ready to go some more, able to take much more punishment from a Nidoking. It jumped a few feet in the air and landed hard, causing an earthquake attack, and triggering a loud cheer from all around the stadium. The Earthquake did a lot of damage to the Poison Type, but it wasn't done yet. It dashed forward and attacked with a super effective Double Kick, hurting the Snorlax greatly, but getting close was the one mistake it shouldn't have made. Snorlax kicked off the ground up over the Nidoking, and falling down within a second landing an extremely debilitating Body Slam attack. Nidoking struggled to move as Snorlax waddled forward and punched it straight in the face with a Mega Punch attack, putting it down.

"THE FIRST POKEMON IS DOWN! VICTORY GOES TO SNORLAX AND JACOOOOOOOB!" The crowd roars energetically, causing Snorlax to do a little dance in celebration to please them. Marcus reaches for his next ball, and drops it on accident, revealing a Golduck. Immediately out of the ball it dashes forward landing a Surf attack and quickly following it up with a Waterfall. Snorlax had no time to react because the Golduck hit it hard again with a Hydro Pump attack. Snorlax was feeling the heat and tried to retaliate with a Rock Slide, but it was easily dodged by the nimble opponent. A Zen headbutt straight to the stomach followed by an Aqua Tail to the head knocked out the Snorlax and silenced the crowd; not for long though as they began to go wild for Marcus' victory.

"AND JUST AS QUCKLY SNORLAX ADMITS DEFEAT, THE COUNT IS ONE TO ONE! IT'S STILL ANYONE'S MATCH!" Through the cheering of the crowd, Jacob decides it's time to take advantage of the situation. Hurling out a Safari Ball, Magneton takes center stage, and a clear advantage over its foe. Marcus couldn't possibly counter an Electric/Steel type when most if not all of Golduck's moves are Water or Psychic.

But just as quickly, the Golduck went into action, using Confusion to stun the Magneton. It countered quickly with a Thunderbolt, slowing it down tremendously. A Sonicboom attack missed slightly as Golduck charged straight in, surprising everyone in the stand when it landed a Super effective Dynamicpunch attack. Magneton, in its confusion, began recklessly discharging in all directions, also hurling Flash Cannons everywhere. Golduck dodged all of the sloppy attacks and hit home with another Aqua Tail attack. Magneton was significantly weakened when it came to, and began to spam Tri-attacks in Golduck's general direction. When one hit and froze its leg, Magneton swooped in and hit it hard with a Spark, following it up with another harsh Thunderbolt, knocking the Golduck down a few notches. It wasn't completely out somehow, and was still willing to fight. Golduck's Blizzard attack hit the Magneton hard, and froze nearly half of its floating body. Now off balance, the Golduck charged one more time and Zen Headbutted its opponent into submission.

Through the mass cheers of the crowd, Jacob could barely make out the announcer's voice: "AND GOLDUCK SURVIVES THE HEAVY ONSLAUGHT TO DEFEAT THE MAGNETON! IN AN UNLIKELY UPSET, JACOB IS SET BACK TWO POKEMON TO ONE. WHAT WILL HIS LAST POKEMON BE!?"

Jacob smirked, he might as well pull out his trump card now to instill fear into the other competitors watching this battle.

"Go, Metagross."

The giant metal behemoth took its stance next to its beloved owner. The crowd went silent (except for a cheer from Bill, "I GAVE HIM THAT POKEMON!"). You could hear a pin drop from the collective surprise of the crowd.

"Bullet Punch." The Metagross went screaming towards the Golduck, landing at least 20 punches with its giant iron fists in a span of about three seconds, knocking it out completely. The collective shock left even the announcer quiet. Marcus on the other hand, wasn't intimidated at all. He threw out his third and final ball. A Charizard came out of a pokeball and flew high up into the sky, hurling fire in a giant bright circle above, as if it were rehearsed. Jacob nervously gulped because of the obvious type disadvantage, but he knew he could pull out all the stops to take it down.

It came like a bee-line straight down into the Metagross, which just stood firm and took a Flare Blitz head on, and just as fluidly it spun and slammed it with a Hammer Arm attack. After the Charizard tumbled a bit it was grabbed and thrown back up into the air by a Psychic attack. It finally had a chance to react and hurtled a wall of fire around the Metagross. It charged back down into the center of the Fire Spin with another Flare Blitz, only being able to hit a big green shield. The Protect did its work well while Metagross attempted another Hammer Arm attack, only hitting air. Charizard flew back up to attempt another long-range fire-attack, but Metagross was one step ahead. It had already retreated from its trap by floating over the fire itself, and following it up with an Agility. Metagross became extremely hard to hit and a hard hitter himself, landing a few more high-speed Bullet Punches before Charizard even had a chance to react. A Heat Wave attack emanating in all directions wasn't even enough to slow down the metal golem, as a third and final Hammer Arm made contact with Charizard's head, knocking it out indefinitely.

"AND IT IS ALL OOOOOVERRRRRRR. JACOB OF CELADON CITY WIIIIIIIIIINS!" The crowd's enthusiasm gave Jacob extreme confidence, but he knew that it would only get tougher from here on out.

After waving to the crowd, he was led back into the waiting room where Len is waiting for him.

"Dude, pulling out your Metagross _now_?"

"I figured I had to make a statement. Ya know, STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF MY OPPONENTS."

"Shut up-"

"Yeah I know it was stupid, but that Golduck was not going down! And I'm lucky I threw out my Metagross, Venasaur never would have stood a chance against Charizard!"

"Well either way you won, don't do something stupid again."

"Same can be said for you too. Don't let people know you caught a-"

"SHHHHHHHHHHH." Len lowers his voice to an extremely quiet whisper. "Don't say it aloud that I caught a Zweilous!"

"Oh, so that's your trump card huh?"

"Well of course!"

"It isn't the Pupa-"

"SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH! That's a trump card too!"

"But they aren't even fully evolved, how are they gonna be a huge force?"

"Your Magneton did some damage."

"Yeah, hardly. That Golduck destroyed it!"

"Well they'll evolve eventually. I know I'll need some hardcore training sessions for them, but they'll get their work don-" The doors opened with a bang and loud cheering, the second match had already finished. The contestant named Oliver had defeated his foe much faster than Jacob did.

"Leonard!" The official was calling for him. "Leonard!"

"Right here!"

"Kick their ass Len."

"How else would I do it?" Len walks towards the official who leads him out towards the double doors so he can face his challenger.


	59. Ch 59: Len Vs Lucy

Chapter 59 Len Vs Lucy

It was Len's turn to battle. He stepped confidently through the double doors out into the stadium, the crowd still riled up from the previous victory. He looked at the pokeball containing his Houndoom and figured that the two of them had it in the bag.

"AAAAAAALLLLLLLL RIGHT FOLKS, HERE'S THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD BATTLE! IN THIS CORNER WE HAVE THE SON OF THE DAYCARE COUPLE THEMSELVES, LEONAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRD DDD!"

A mass of applause for the recognizable icon standing there doesn't affect the stoic look on Len's face at all, the wind now whipping through his short hair.

"AAAAAND IN THIS CORNER, SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO GET HERE IT'S LUUUUUUCYYYY FROM PALLET TOOOOOWWWWNNN!" Another mass of cheers comes from the crowd. Len looks out for his group of friends and sister, but can't find them. He turns around and sees a big sign shaped like a heart with his name on it… but that wasn't his sister holding it…. she seemed familiar too… who is she?

"ALRIGHT TRAINERS, READY YOUR POKEMOOOONN!" His attention snaps back to the stage where his opponent, a female trainer with short blonde hair, and noticeably shorter than him, released a Gardevoir.

"Too easy." He drops the great ball revealing his Houndoom, and flinches when he hears a squeal from behind. It was the girl holding that giant sign. Alright now back to the battle.

Houndoom went into action first, hitting Gardevoir with a Flamethrower attack. Gardevoir countered with a Calm Mind and a Wish. She was about to become a tank and Len had to take her out fast. An unexpected Shockwave attack emanated from the Psychic type, and dealt a glancing blow to the Houndoom. It retaliated with a Swift, then tried to dash in to land a harsh Crunch attack. The Gardevoir jumped out of the way in time to hit the Houndoom with a Signal Beam attack, dealing massive damage. Houndoom hadn't slowed down yet though, and was able to Sucker Punch the Gardevoir before it could land another move, knocking it down. This gave Houndoom the opportunity to land a Crunch attack and quickly finish off the Gardevoir.

"AND THE FIRST VICTORY GOES TO THE HOUNDOOOOOOM!" More cheers and squealing as Len's expression doesn't change, but his opponent was beginning to get frightened. Her next pokemon was an Electivire, an extremely powerful pokemon, but something about it was off. It was smaller than other Electivire, and definitely not as fast. When it tried to use Thunderpunch it missed completely, and was nearly taken out on one Dark Pulse attack. It was down and out before the battle even started, and a simple ember attack did it in. It was the fastest take down of the night and the crowd was loving it.

"AND THE SECOND VICTORY GOES TO THE HOUNDOOM AS WELL! LUCY HAS FALLEN FAR BEHIND! CAN SHE MAKE IT UP!?" It was obvious she couldn't. How she made it into the tournament Len couldn't figure out, but her third and final pokemon was about to go down. It was an Ambipom. Perfect.

"Come back Houndoom."

"AND A DARING GAMBIT IS MADE, HE CALLS BACK HIS HOUNDOOM FOR A FRESH POKEMON! WHAT WILL WE SEE NEXT?!"

"Go, Weavile." He drops his ball, and Weavile appears confident standing next to him. Most could guess by now that he was going for the gym leader spot as a Dark type ace, and he looked like he deserved it. His Weavile went into action as fast as possible against the underleveled opponent, and it was all over within a flash. A Night Slash followed up by a Metal Claw into a Dynamicpunch leveled the competition's Ambipom. The crowd went wild, Len cracked a smile, and the announcer was shocked, having just witnessed two straight shutouts.

"A MAGNIFICENT VICTORY FOR LEONARD! HE WINS A LANDSLIDE THREE TO NOTHING VICTORYYYYYYY!" The crowd roared even louder as Len emotionlessly walked back towards the doors leading him back down the hall to the locker room, stopping only to point and wink at the girl with the sign for him.

He walks back into the locker room, Jacob waiting inside for him.

"Congrats man. One step closer to getting your ass kicked by me."

"Heh, fat chance, who's to say you won't lose to that Oliver kid?" The next two competitors were called over towards the door, their battle awaiting them as well.

"Like I'd let that happen. C'mon, let's go back to the hotel. I'm tired, and the others will probably want to greet us there."

"Is that before or after you buy me dinner?"

"Shut the hell up Lenny."

"You freaking love me."

"Pssh." The two walked out the doors, down more hallways under the stadium where they could hear the cheering of the current battle, and finally into a large lobby, where one girl stood by the stairs leading to the seats.

"LEN!" She ran over to the trainer and tackled him to the ground with a forceful hug , throwing away the hear-shaped sign she was holding. "That was such a great battle! I'm your biggest fan!"

"The hell, you already have a fanbase? And it's 100% girls!" Jacob snickered at his own joke which was ignored by the infatuated Len.

"Have I met you before?"

"Unless you can remember things from when you were unconscious."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"A few months ago you crashed into my house…" A quizzical look appears on Len's face. "Ya know, while the Rockets were attacking SilphCo.?"

"Oh. So that's where I landed… My bad."

"Oh! No! It's not a problem! We had insurance!" She was much happier than one would expect a girl whose house was destroyed by human missiles to be. "I saw you there, then I saw you in the tournament, and I just HAAD to meet you! And now I'm happy because you're an amazing trainer!" Len was just as bewildered as Jacob. "EEK! Oh I'm so happy I got to meet you again!"

"Uh…. what?"

"Looks like you have a hot stalker!" Hot was an understatement. This girl was around 5'2, with longer black hair just past her shoulders, with curved bangs over the upper right side of her face. You could even see from the baggy hoodie that she was wearing that she was thin, but bigger in the more important places. Weighing in at about 105 pounds (maybe?), she also had a nice rounded butt that flowed well into her thin legs. All of this plus tan skin and an extremely cute smile made for the perfect stalker.

"I'm not a stalker! I just happened to be here because I have a ticket to see the whole tournament, and I just HAPPENED to have a sign ready to make for my favorite trainer of the first round! But when I saw my cutie up on the big screen I squealed and immediately made the sign for him!" She scrambled over to where the sign was tossed carelessly, allowing Len a chance to finally get up.

"Remember what you said about not sticking your Wobbufett in crazy Len."

"Shut the hell up, she's cute and obviously likes me. What could possibly go wrong?" The girl comes scurrying back.

"Oh! Wanna see my pokemon!?" She drops three pokeballs, revealing a Mienfoo, a Machoke, and a Gurdurr.

"That's what can go wrong."

"Sorry, I can't date a girl that likes fighting types."

"WAIT! NO!"

"Relax, I'm teasing you!"

"Oh good. Because if you were serious I'd have to kill you." The two stare at each other, a deafening silence resonating between them. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man you thought I was serious!? Ahahahahahahaha!"

"Run bro."

"Calm down Jakie-boy. This might be good for me! So, what hotel are you staying at?"

"Clefable Suites. Why?"

"Awesome! Care to walk back to our room with us?"

"YAY!" Her smile melted Len's heart.

"Dude," he leans over and whispers into Jacob's ear, "I think I'm in love."

"Calm yo Jigglypuffs, don't jump into anything too rashly."

"Oh, I'll be jumping into something."

Jacob could do nothing but shrug, shake his head, and walk out the door.

"Hey! Wait for us! So, uh, what was your name?"

"Oh! I'm Kelly!" She enthusiastically extends a small hand, and the two boys cautiously shake it.

"You know me, and this is my best friend Jacob."

"Oh, hi Jacob!"

"Hey there." The three of them finally make it out of the stadium, loud cheers heard from behind them. The fourth and final battle of the night was over, and the next time they'll be there is in two days for John's battle. Heidi's battle is the last of the first round, and she'll be battling on the fourth day.

The three eventually make it to the suite on the 13th floor of the hotel. Len asks, "Hey, wanna meet our friends?"

"Yeah sure!" He opens the door to one of the several "largest rooms in the complex".

"Huh… they must not be back yet." The room was empty. Len could only assume that they were still watching the final battle considering they were sitting in a special section meant for guests of the competitors, close to the action. After walking down a short hallway with two doors on either side leading to Luxury bathrooms, they found themselves in the extremely large bedroom.

With the room empty you could see the full extent of what the team would be living in for the next month or so. It was fairly expensive, but because it accommodates eight; (four of them being in the tournament and staying for free), it was reasonably priced. There were four king sized beds, two on each wall, which were all far apart from each other with small nightstands between the beds. A small but elegant lamp stood regally atop each one. A soft maroon carpet complimenting the yellows and golds of the drapes and bedding meshed perfectly in the eye to make the room relaxing yet bright. If you were to look out the window you could see everything that is Kanto. Their vision was blocked by Mt. Moon to the left, but to the right they could see as far as Pallet Town, and in the middle even Celadon City. People across the hall could see almost all of Johto, if they didn't have a view that was dominated by Mt. Silver.

The beds themselves were incredibly comfortable, and the blankets were made out of 100% Flaffy wool. On the walls facing the windows on either side of the hallway were two large televisions, one with the news on, and one with the Tournament going. The final battle was well into the last two remaining pokemon, and they walked in just in time to see the victor. Some kid named Paul. His Exeggutor had won the last fight for him in a real nail-biter. Anyway, the bedroom. The bed setup was Heidi and Alexandra in the far right bed, Len and Jacob in the close right bed, John and Mike in the far left bed, and Roy and Bill in the close left bed. Small overhead lights embedded into the ceiling make the room look even brighter and more welcoming, as the three sit down on their one allotted bed.

"So where's your room Kelly?"

"Oh, it's just a one bed suite down on the first floor. Nothing fancy like this!" She laid back on the bed, hitting the soft surface with a pomf. "I wanna sleep here!"

"Sorry, but this is half my bed too," Jacob chided.

"Oh boo." She ponders something in her head for a bit, "So did your families come to watch you?"

"Nope, my mom's watching it on TV while my sis takes care of the gym-"

"OH THAT'S RIGHT YOU'RE ERIKA'S BROTHER! WHAT'S SHE LIKE? IS SHE SUPER NICE? WH-"

"Kelly, please." Jacob stopped her by raising his hand to her face.

"Anyway, how about you Lenny?"

"Well my parents are still at the daycare center, but my sister is here with us." After he finished his sentence the door banged open and Heidi came bolting into the room wearing her lime-green hoodie, a pink skirt and black stockings, with a hat resembling a Wailord.

"THAT. WAS. AMAAAAAAZING BRO!... Wait, who's this?"

"Is this your sister? Awwww, she's sooooo cute!"

"Heidi, this is Len's stalker, Len's stalker, Heidi, the self-proclaimed 'little sister' to everyone in the group."

"NO! I'm not Roy's sister cuz he keeps beating me in battles!" Heidi pauses, thinks for a second about what Jacob said, then laughs mischievously, "Lenny has a stalker now?"

"NO! I'm not a stalker! Geeeez!" A few seconds later the other members of the group come in, and short introductions are had, as well as the clearing up about the fact that Alexandra is Len's sister. Not Heidi. Everyone gladly welcomed Kelly, now dubbed "stalker" by the boys, into the group. Some banter from Roy and Bill coupled by zingers from John and Mike made for an enjoyable night.


	60. Ch 60: John vs Nicholas

Author's note:  
Oh crap, i've almost caught up with my writing (chapter 62) so I might have to change to weekly for a while. 61 will still be posted thursday, and probably not next monday because christmas, but i will have good chapters ready for my 12 loyal readers! lol

Chapter 60 John Vs. Nicholas

After another night of battling and watching future opponents win, the second night came to a close. Heidi was as pumped as ever and couldn't wait for her battle, which was the last of the first round battles. Jacob and Len were training for their next battle, Roy and Bill were exploring Indigo Plateu with Mike and Alexandra, and John was ready. The third night of battling started with a blast and a swift 3-1 victory. Because none of the other group members had a match John was alone in the locker room, while Jacob and the rest were in the front row, near the corner of the battle area. John would be able to turn to his right and see his friends sitting there. With Heidi to his left, Alexandra to his right, and a bag of popcorn in his lap, the battle was about to begin.

"ROUND TWO IS ABOUT TO BEGIN FOLKS. OVER IN THIS CORNER WE HAVE NIIIIIIICHOLAAAAAAAASSSSS!" He directed his point to a taller guy who had scraggly brown hair down to his shoulders. He wore a hat you would see on a bounty hunter, a camo-pattern vest with a t-shirt underneath, jeans, and really nice looking hiking boots.

"AND IN THIS CORNER THE MAN FROM GOLDENROD, HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERR RRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEE'S JOHHNY!" John looked ready and raring to go as he whipped out his first pokeball, his Escavalier fiercely pounding out of it, now standing across from a Furret. Escavalier charged forward preparing an X-Scissor attack, but Furret used dig and hid underneath the earth to dodge the attack. A fatal mistake, John thought, as Escavalier pounded the ground for an extremely effective Earthquake attack. The Furret didn't stand a chance anymore as it was forced out of the ground and was wounded harshly. An X-Scissor finished it quickly.

"A FAST VICTORY FOR JOHN! WHAT WILL NICHOLAS COME OUT WITH NEXT?" In response, he released an Arcanine; now having the obvious advantage, Arcanine dashed forward with a Take Down attack that didn't do much, and followed it up into a Flamethrower attack. Escavalier took a lot of damage and was surprisingly still standing after the double effective attack. Another attempt at its favorite move: X-Scissor was turned away, and a final Flare Blitz sealed the deal on the Bug/Steel-type.

"AND JUST AS QUICKLY JOHN'S ESCAVALIER GOES DOOOWN. WHAT WILL HE COME OUT WITH NEXT?"

John throws out his only water-type: Starmie. Coming out of the ball in a Rapid Spin, it gets close to the startled Arcanine and hits it dead on with Bubblebeam. Arcanine reels back and readies itself by hurling an Overheat attack. It glazed Starmie lightly, but after the smoke cleared Arcanine came down with a huge Bite attack. Starmie pushed it off with a light Psywave, then followed it up with a Psychic attack, throwing it into the air. As Arcanine was coming back down a Hydro pump quickly finishes it.

"ANOTHER SWIFT DEFEAT! JOHN IS NOW UP TWO POKEMON TO ONE! HOW WILL NICK RETALIATE?!"

He throws out his final pokeball and a Pidgeot comes screaming out of the ball, flying high into the air and coming back down, landing softly next to his owner. Starmie makes the first move, hurling a Bubblebeam in its opponent's direction. Pidgeot flew up, dodging the attack, and used a long-range Gust attack. It didn't do much but constantly using long range moves would be the end of Starmie if it couldn't get close. While Pidgeot was preparing another Gust, Starmie used Rapid Spin to get in close, coming out of it using Psychic. Pidgeot was held in place forcefully , then was thrown straight into the ground. After creating a small crater Starmie followed it up by plowing it further into the ground with a Hydro Pump attack, finishing it off for good.

"AND NICHOLAS' LAST POKEMON DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE! JOHN OF GOLDENROD CITY WINS!"

As coolly as he walked onto the field is how he exited, only holding up one hand to his audience.

"Wasn't that amazing bro!? I can't wait to fight him!"

"Calm down Heidi, you never know, you might fight someone stronger than you here!"

"Not likely," Roy begins, "she's much stronger than anyone else we've seen so far, by far. If I were to make a prediction, it would be Heidi to win the tournament."

"See! Even Roy thinks so!" She looks up into the row behind her where Roy was sitting.

"…..What?"

"Nothing!" She turns back around as they watch the next few battles. A few nail-biters, a few blowouts, and the night was over quickly. The next four battles would take place tomorrow night, most notably Heidi's fight. Hers was the last of the tournament and would probably leave an even bigger impact on the audience. Fan clubs for each trainer were starting to form even before tonight though, mostly for one guy named Ben… something-or-other. His celestial psychic type pokemon were apparently a big hit with a lot of the pokemon fans out to see the tournament. After tomorrow night though, popularity polls for each remaining contestant would be revealed, Jacob hoping he would be near the top. The group gets up during the middle of the last round of the night to start leaving when snow begins to fall on the battlefield.

The eight walk out onto the main concourse where John was sitting patiently.

"Way to make me wait assholes."

"Oh shut up. You know Heidi wanted to scout the competition."

"As if I'd let any of them beat me to the semi final battle."

"Told ya Heidi."

"Huh?! I never said that!" It was hard to tell if Jacob or Heidi was lying but John didn't mind.

"Let's just go get something to eat. I'm starving!"

* * *

It was late into the night now, probably 2 or 3 AM, when one of the beds began rustling. Heidi hopped up and out of her bed to get a cup of water when she noticed something… Roy wasn't in his bed. "Huh…" She took a card key to get back in the room, and one of her pokeballs with her, and proceeded to the first floor. "Maybe he took a walk…" Still in her half awake state, she stumbled outside to where she was battling Roy earlier in the day, and surely enough he was there sitting beside his Blaziken. "Ohhhh. There he is…!" She stumbles over and plops her body down next to him, startling him.

"What are you doing out here?! You're gonna catch a cold before your big night!" He starts taking off his jacket.

"Nah, I'm good." She pokes the ball to the ground and an elegantly fluffy Flareon pops out and jumps into her lap.

"I forgot you had that." Roy looks down at her, "Why'd you come looking for me?"

"Because?"

"Because why?"

"I wanted to."

"Well okay then."

"You know what today is?"

"The day you're gonna kick some ass?"

"No," she starts falling asleep again and leans her head onto Roy's arm. "It's my birthday!"

"Oh! Well Happy Birthday then." Heidi begins to sit upright again. "What do you want as a birthday present? I'm sure we could all pitch in and get you something nice-"

"I wanna win."

"Huh?"

"The tournament. I wanna win."

"I can't get you that!"

Heidi leans back on him, gently this time. "You already did," she smiles up at him, "Thanks for being my training buddy." She hugged his arm and fell asleep, now with a sleeping Flareon in her lap.

_"D'aaawww, she liiiikes you!"_

_"Shut up Torchie." _Roy looks down at the little girl on his arm. He returns her Flareon, and starts carrying her back into the building, snow still collecting on the ground around them.

He brings her back up the stairs, into their room and plops her back down onto the bed next to Alexandra. Changing back into his pajamas, he lays back in his own bed next to his sleeping buddy, (which although was supposed to be set has been changing a lot anyway) Jacob, looking across at Heidi. He smiles to himself and gently falls asleep. It's the first night in a long time he's had a good dream worth remembering.


	61. Ch 61: Heidi Vs Lorelei

Author's Note: I think Heidi's become my favorite character of the story. Who's your favorite character so far? (and by so far I mean not all of them have been introduced! DAH DUH DAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)

Chapter 61: Heidi vs. Lorelei

Jacob and friends were sitting in the same spots as last night, waiting through three extremely tough battles to finally see Heidi. As the last match of the night, some people left because they were tired, and would probably rather see it on their TV in a warm hotel room. Heidi stepped confidently through her entrance looking up at the smaller crowd with awe.

"IN THIS CORNER, FROM CERULEAN CITY, GIVE A BIG HAND FOR LORELEI ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!" The crowd cheered for the much older woman, who was almost double Heidi's height, and had a strong looking build. Her brown hair and eyes complimented her slightly tanned skin. She began laughing regally as if to say, "I'm the best one here and you better believe it."

"AND IN THIS CORNER, GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE LATE FIRE GYM LEADER BLAINE, HERE TO TAKE HIS SPOT AS 7TH GYM LEADER OF KANTO, HEEEEEIIIIIIIIIDIIIIIIIIIIII II!" The crowd went wild for the small girl, who was possibly the youngest of all the competitors in the tournament. She jumped around and hooped and hollered with the crowd, making her opponent angry with her.

"AAAAAAAAAAND BEGIN!"

The first two pokemon whipped out would be the two to make everyone jump out of their seats in awe as the battle progressed. Lorelei's Raticate versus Heidi's Flareon would be one of the longest and most drawn out battles of the tournament, each starting with conflicting status moves. Heidi was playing more strategically than strength, starting with a Growl, which was countered by a Tail Whip from Raticate. After a few more exchanges like this, the two went into action, each using Quick Attack to try to get the first blow. After misses and simultaneous weak hits at once, Heidi began using her elemental advantage.

Flareon used Flamethrower to try to throw the Raticate off balance, but it countered by dodging it quickly and hitting home with a Tackle. It did a little damage but more importantly threw off Flareon's stride, forcing a retreat for the time being. From a distance though, Flareon could do a lot more than a Raticate, using Lava Plume to try to hit it. Raticate was too fast, and was able to get close to Flareon again. This is where Heidi had her beat, landing a harsh Fire Fang on her opponent, burning it badly as well. The crowd was really getting into it, unable to determine a winner from this scrap alone, and Jacob noticed that seats started to fill back up again. It wasn't too noticeable of a change, but people were indeed coming back into the arena.

Raticate tried to hit with a Super Fang attack, but missed, allowing a close range Take Down from Flareon to deal a lot of damage, but it wasn't done just yet. Raticate used Endeavor, and because it was burned it dealt a lot more damage than what it would normally do, knocking down the Flareon to where Raticate was stamina-wise. Flareon then attempted a Fire Blast attack but was hit hard when Raticate interrupted it with a Sucker Punch, dealing that much more damage to the weakened Flareon. The crowd was getting more and more into it as the two pokemon continued at each other again and again, eventually devolving into a battle of "whoever lands the next hit wins."

Raticate was coming up fast with another Quick attack, but was hit hard in the face with a Sand Attack veering it off course and left to tumble away from Flareon. Seeing this opportunity, Flareon went in for the kill, hitting it hard and knocking it out with a Last Resort attack. The stadium was filled to the brim with people again as Heidi's name was being chanted through the ranks of people.

"HEIDI ATTAINS THE FIRST VICTORY TONIGHT OVER LORELEI IN A HEATED BATTLE TO THE WIRE!" The announcer himself even notices that people have begun to come back into the stadium again. "THESE TWO EVEN ATTRACTED EVERYONE BACK TO THE ARENA! HOW WILL LORELEI FOLLOW UP WITH THIS FIRST INTENSE MATCHUP?"

Lorelei cackles as if she knew this would happen and she's only staging a comeback. Heidi starts to get angry with her, and decides to bring in a fresh pokemon alongside her. She releases a Corsola from her pokeball, now adding a type advantage to the situation. Now Heidi begins to laugh regally like Lorelei once did, calling back her Flareon to rest in between battles.

"AND HEIDI IS ALSO MAKING A SWITCH! LET'S SEE WHAT SHE COMES OUT WITH!" She pulls from her little green back-pack a Safari ball.

"Oh shit."

"What Jake?"

"You know what Roy."

"Oh?... OH. WOOW, yeah, I forgot about that… DAMN!"

Heidi tosses the ball into the air, and the crowd is amazed at what materializes in front of the little girl. Jacob expected it, so he wasn't amazed as much, but everyone else among the crowd is awe-struck by the sight of the Lucario, standing mightily in front of its opponent.

The match starts quickly, Lucario using Swords Dance and Calm mind at the same time to power it up immensely, while Corsola starts the offensive. Rock throw was easily dodged. Lucario was able to use Extremespeed to get in close, smack it hard, then follow up with a Super Effective Aura Sphere attack, leaving Corsola defeated immediately. The crowd never stopped cheering for Heidi, while Lorelei became more frustrated and angry.

"A SWIFT DEFEAT FOR THE POOR CORSOLA. HEIDI IS NOW UP THREE POKEMON TO ONE." Lorelei became flustered as she whipped her last pokeball across the field, revealing a giant, powerful, and menacing Steelix.

"I know how to beat this!" Heidi nods to Lucario, who nods in return to his beloved owner. A "Heidi! Heidi!" Chant starts among the crowd as Lucario goes into action again. It uses another Calm Mind to power up its next move again as Steelix takes to the ground, diving underneath the surface of the earth in its Dig attack. The ground behind Lucario broke open as Steelix dove at it and hit it hard with a Crunch attack. Now caught between its massive teeth, Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at Steelix's face, releasing its grip as it screams in agony. Now with a huge opportunity in front of it, Lucario powers itself up with Swords Dance again and dives into the enemy using Close Combat. Somehow the Steelix is still standing tall, and hasn't backed down in this battle yet. It dives forward for another Crunch attack, missing, then burrowing into the ground for another Dig. Lucario decides to take the initiative itself this time, using Earthquake to deal massive damage to the Steelix, which now comes spurting out of the ground writhing in pain. This lets Lucario land one more Aura Sphere to finish off its opponent, inducing another mass of cheers from the now fully filled stadium, cuing another "Heidi!" chant.

"HEIDI AND HER LUCARIO WIN THE BATTLE!" Heidi skips gleefully off the field while Lorelei is left crying on her side of the stadium.

"Some battle eh Roy?" Jacob turns to find Roy is gone. "Huh. Where'd he go?"

"I think he said something about the bathroom, or food… I don't remember." Alexandra's insight doesn't help, but Jacob has an idea of where he went.

Roy was the first to meet Heidi outside of the locker room, and was the first to congratulate her.

"That was a great battle Heidi!"

"Thanks!" She hops over to him and gives him a hug.

"Quick, we gotta get outta here before-" and as if they knew what he was going to say, a bunch of reporters and fans came to greet Heidi where she and Roy stood, asking a multitude of questions. "HEY HEY HEY! BACK OFF FOR A SECOND!" Torchie came out of his ball and spat fire into the air, leaving everyone to back up a few steps. He looks down at Heidi, who is now hiding behind him, probably scared from all the initial attention.

Now though, she walks out and around from Roy and with a confident air points to the sky and says, "I'M GONNA WIN THIS TOURNAMENT! AND NOBODY'S GONNA STOP ME! WAHAHAHAHA!" The rest of the group comes down to see Heidi as well, unaware of the mass of people that also want to meet her.

"Hey… why didn't we get a reception like this?..."

"Because we aren't the granddaughter of a dead Gym Leader…" Len and Jacob share a sarcastic sadness as the rest of them move from the back of the group to stand off to the side. Torchie points out to Roy and Heidi that the others were waiting for them while Heidi was still answering questions from all the reporters. Before she dismisses them she has one more thing to say. "Oh! I forgot! Hi mommy! Hi daddy! Hi Jake's mommy! Hi Lady Erika!" The people wonder why she's saying hi to someone else's mom, then to the Celadon Gym Leader, which raises the question: "Why 'hi' to someone else's mom, then to Erika?"

"'Cuz they are my big bro's mom and sister!... Well he's not _really _my big bro, but he helped me win almost all my badges!" The people in front of her now knew that she meant Jacob, the first contestant to battle and win, but didn't care very much for the thought. After Roy forced them to disband, he and Heidi found their way through a few more people looking for an autograph to the rest of the group.

"Good battle Heidi. I can't wait to beat you in the finals." Jacob rubs her hair which warrants a pout from the now 13 year old girl.

"Implying you'll beat me," Len responds

"Implying Heidi will beat me," John and Len share a laugh.

"Now! Because it's my birthday, who will pay for a big dinner for me!?"

"It's your birthday? Well Happy Birthday! If I knew I would have gotten you a present!"

"No, it's fine sis, all I want is a nice big pizza!" The group starts walking to a nearby restaurant to find some food for their final winner of Round 1. Round 2 begins in three days, and everyone needs to keep preparing for what's to come.


	62. Ch 62: Days Off & Jacob Vs Oliver

Chapter 62 Days off & Jacob vs Oliver

"AAAAAHHHHH JEEZ! Of course Heidi is most popular to win after her event two nights ago!"

"Haha, you don't even make it to the Quarter finals Jake!"

"Shut up Bill… HAHAHA LOOK! This has Len losing in the Finals to Heidi!"

"Guys, calm down, it's just a popularity poll, it's not the premonition of the actual tournament!" John's insight was right.

"Apparently, according to popular polls, Len, you're projected to win over this guy, Ben Maines because of your dark types, but he's the second most popular person in the tournament behind Heidi… and who's this Oliver Cleary joker? He won with a Butterfree! How am I projected to lose against that!?"

"Hahahahahaha, well all I know is that if we keep sitting around and doing nothing, you really WILL lose to him!"

"So what exactly are you doing again?" Len started paying attention.

"Studying up on our opponents, like you SHOULD be doing Len."

"But if he does that he'll have less time to spend with me!" Kelly replied enthusiastically. The two go back to rolling around on the bed, exchanging kisses.

"Do you WANT to lose out of the tournament Len?"

"Calm down dude, my opponent uses psychic types! I've got it in the bag!"

"Ugh, whatever." John goes back to watching the video of his next opponent: Jason. "It's kinda hard to tell how to fight this kid.. He uses dark types, which will be easily taken down by my bugs, but that Blaziken he uses completely destroys my team…"

"So use Typhlosion!"

"But Blaziken also has fighting-type moves, so it'll have an advantage in dealing damage…"

"So use Starmie!"

"But if I do that and it turns out his Blaziken is his Zoroark, Starmie will be taken out instantly… Hmm…."

"So use Forretress!"

"You know you aren't helping, right!?"

"Whaaat? I'm just trying to give you some input!"

"Well… ugh…. I don't even… this is gonna be tough." He rubs his temples in frustration. "DAMNIT!" He slams his laptop closed and spins in his chair.

"Why not use Volcarona, get Quiver Dance off right away, that way it'll be harder to hit by all parties, and no matter what happens it'll win!" Bill's stroke of genius makes John as happy as he's been the past two days.

"Oh thanks Bill! You're so damn smart!" He hugs his friend and jumps around the room in glee.

"The only problem is keeping it in the battle the whole time."

"Dude that won't be a problem at all. The point is now I'm gonna win it!" He couldn't be happier in the new discovery of strategy. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"I dunno. Because you're over thinking it?"

"Well whatever. I gotta go get ready." Jacob leaves the room before the others as he starts to make his way down to the stadium where he has the first battle of the night.

"W-w-wait for me!" Len was the second battle of the night and chased Jacob out the door, also in preparation for what's to come.

* * *

"LLLLLLLLLLLLLLADIEEEEEESSSS AAAAAAAAAAANDDDDDDD GEEEEEEEEEEENTLEMEEEEEEEEEEN NNNNN. WELCOME TO ROUND TWO OF THE POKEMON KANTO LEAGUE TOURNAMENT! IN THIS ROUND TWO, THE FORMAT IS THE SAME AS ROUND ONE!" Jacob breathed a sigh of releif. "EACH TRAINER WILL USE THREE POKEMON, FIRST ONE TO MAKE ALL THREE OF THEIR OPPONENT'S POKEMON FAINT WINS!" The crowd started to get impatient. "IN THIS CORNER, THE MAN WITH THE METAGROSS, JACOOOOOOB!" He gains a large amount of cheers from all around him. "AND IN THE OPPOSITE CORNER IS THE COME-BACK-KID, OLIVEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!" He gains a noticeable amount more cheers than Jacob.

"Feh, whatever. He won't know what hit em."

"TRAINERS, GET READY TO BATTLE!" Jacob throws out his first pokeball, his Magneton again. He's more confident in its battle today, and hopefully with more experience it'll evolve soon. Luckily enough his opponent sent out a Dewgong first. A type advantage would be good for Jake.

"FIGHT!"

Dewgong goes into action first, attempting to hit with a few very long range Aurora Beams. Magneton was trying the same, except with Thundershocks. They were exchanging glancing blows, when Magneton dove in first, landing a Spark attack, dealing tons of damage. Dewgong tried to retaliate with a Slam, but it did minimal damage. A very close range Zap Cannon dealt a lot of damage and paralyzed it harshly. Surprisingly, the Dewgong had enough energy for another attack, and began to use Surf. This only magnified Magneton's attack, when Thunder struck the field and finished off the Dewgong.

"AND ROUND ONE GOES TO THE NOW REDEEMED MAGNETON! OLIVER, THE CLEAR FAVORITE TO WIN, IS NOW BACK ONE POKEMON TO NONE, WHAT'LL HE COME OUT WITH NEXT?!"

Oliver throws out another pokeball, a Ninetales coming out of it this time. Jacob knows Fire Steels so he calls back his Magneton and tells Munch the Snorlax to take center stage again, knowing his Thick Fat would shield him from Ninetales' attacks.

"A THOUGHTFUL SWITCH, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE OLIVER WILL KEEP HIS NINETALES IN TO BATTLE IT! HOW WILL THIS TURN OUT!?"

Jacob commanded first, ordering Snorlax to use Belly Drum. It was a dangerous tactic but was very effective when instead of attacking, Ninetales hurled a burning Will-O-Wisp at Snorlax.

"Now Rest!" Snorlax immediately fell asleep, not only regaining all of his health, but he also healed his burn status, now frightening Oliver and his Ninetales. It tried to deal a lot of damage by running up to it and using Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, and Fire Spin, but Snorlax took the hits like nothing. Jacob commanded Sleep Talk, a move he was hesitant to use. Snorlax stood up, still asleep, and started to use Metronome. After his arms glowed white, Munch rushed straight at the Ninetales at lightning speed, landing a very huge Extremespeed attack. This is when Snorlax woke up, and now it followed it up into a Body Slam attack, nearly taking out the Ninetales right then and there. It fled back, now trying to stick to long range attacks, but Munch would have none of it. He jumped up once and made the stadium rock, hitting Ninetales with a deadly Earthquake and knocking it out indefinitely.

"SNORLAX DEFEATS HIS OPPONENT IN A LANDSLIDE VICTOROY. JACOB TAKES THE LEAD TWO POKEMON TO ZILCH! THE FAVORITE IS BEING BACKED INTO A CORNER THAT HE JUST WON'T BE ABLE TO COME OUT OF!"

Oliver reached down and threw out his last ball confidently. His Butterfree floated out of the ball gracefully and took its position opposite the large blue and white behemoth. Jacob knew he would have this last one in the bag. Jacob commanded a Defense Curl, which helped Munch absorb the Silverwind attack that came in. A Rollout however, was not in Butterfree's plans, as a Snorlax rolling at high speeds and maximum attack was coming straight for it. There was absolutely no avoiding the hit that would end the battle, and leave Jacob the victor in this battle.

"AND JACOB WINS A LANDSLIDE BATTLE! HIS SNORLAX TAKES OUT NOT ONE, BUT TWO OF OLIVER'S POKEMON TO GIVE THE UNDERDOG THE WIN!" The crowd was going insane, especially Jacob's personal section of John, Bill, Alexandra, and the rest. He told himself that he didn't need anyone else cheering for him but his friends… well, more so Alexandra. He walked in through the double doors back to the locker room where Len sat in wait.

"You ass."

"What?"

"That was overkill."

"What? Overkill is my favorite word!"

"LEN!" The escort poked his head through the door, "because the first battle was so short you have an extra few minutes to prepare."

"Thanks man, anyway," he turns back to Jacob, "you think I'm gonna win tonight?"

"Dude, you're favored to get to the finals, of course you're gonna win. All you gotta use is…"

"Huh?... Oh..-OOOOHHHHH NOOO. NO NO NO NO NO. Not yet my friend!"

"But it's going to need battle experience soon! Hell, it's a wonder you even came across it along Victory road, and even a bigger wonder that it actually took a liking to you!"

"What can I say? Good pokemon love me!"

"Just consider it. A potential Hydreigon is a huge fear tactic."

"You forget that I'm going to be facing you in the next round, right?"

"Pssshhhh. As if you'd get past Metagross!"

"You know Houndoom would kick your ass."

"Before or after Snorlax was through with you?"

"And for that I have my Zweilous!"

"Well there you go. Strategy my friend… hmm. Would it be illegal to battle each other in preparation for our battle against each other?"

"I could imagine so. Just stick to kicking Mike's ass… Alex likes watching you two battle."

"Oh. Does she? Did she mention who she prefers to win the battles?"

"Hahaha, I know where you're going with this and the answer is figure it out yourself you whore."

"Whoa, whoa, all I'm asking is if your sister likes me or him more?"

"Like I'd know. She tells Heidi everything, not me." Jacob sees how he can quickly take advantage of that. "But Heidi wouldn't talk either. Hahaha, she swore on a box full of candy Dunsparce!" Jacob thought that somehow, she wouldn't go back on that promise. "Anyway, I gots me a battle to do."

"Don't win to badly. The people are paying for a show, not a boring contest."

"Like yours was a show!"

"Just go win already you ass." Len was lead out the door in preparation for his next fight.


	63. Ch 63: Len vs Paul & Rough Road

Author's Note: Happy new years!

Chapter 63 Len Vs. Paul & Rough Road

Now it was Len's turn to walk out onto the battlefield. He was the clear cut favorite to win this battle, but that doesn't mean he'll win it easily.

"AND HERE WE ARE TO BRING YOU FOLKS ROUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNND TWOOO. HERE WE HAVE THE MAN WITH THE DARK TYPES, LEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN! AND OVER IN THE OPPOSITE CORNER, WE REALLY HAVE AN OPPOSITE, WITH A PSYCHIC TYPE TRAINER: HEEEEERE'S PAAAAAAUUUUUUUULLLLLLL!" The crowd is starting to get riled up because they had to wait for this battle, and they are now very excited. "TRAINERS! BEGIN!"

Len obviously starts by throwing out his trusty Umbreon, while his opponent threw out his Alakazam first. It would not take a long time before this battle was over. Alakazam started by firing a Tri-Attack, which missed as Umbreon burrowed underground. The Alakazam took this time to use Calm Mind twice, then was hit hard by Umbreon's Dig attack. At a close range, Alakazam fired a Focus Blast, but missed entirely as Umbreon hit it first with a Sucker Punch attack. Falling in a heap, the Alakazam attempted to get back up, but Umbreon finished it with a Faint attack.

"AND A QUICK VICTORY FOR LEN AND HIS UMBRON. HOW WILL PAUL TRY TO COME BACK NEXT?"

Paul tosses out another ball. This time It's a Wobbufett. Knowing it can't do anything offensively on its own, Len takes a few seconds to think of a strategy. When nothing comes to mind he hits his opponent hard with a Faint Attack, with Counter doing double damage back to the Umbreon. Considering the magnitude of the first attack, the second one's counter was unbelievably strong. After hitting it with another Faint attack, It attempted another counter, to which Umbreon interrupted with a Sucker Punch. It was a bad idea as it somehow survived the attacks and dealt all of that damage back to the Umbreon, putting a damper in Len's plans.

"AND UMBREON IS THE NEXT TO GO DOWN! IT'S STILL ANYONE'S MATCH AS IT'S NOW TIED ONE TO ONE!"

He decides to unveil his Sharpedo, definitely a force to be reckoned with. It charged in using Crunch, to which another Counter did its work. The Wobbufett knew it was almost out and prepared itself for the next attack. An Aqua Jet came flying in when Wobbufett used Destiny Bond. Len tried to command Sharpedo to change course, but it was too late. It hit Wobbufett dead on, knocking it out. Because of the Destiny Bond move Sharpedo went down just the same, leaving both trainers with only one pokemon.

"BOTH POKEMON ARE DOOOOWWWWNNNNN. IN AN AMAZING SUICIDE STRATEGY, PAUL HAS EVENED THE COUNT TO ONE REMAINING POKEMON EACH! WILL PAUL MAKE A COMEBACK AND WIN? OR WILL LEN KEEP THE TIDES IN HIS FAVOR?"

Each trainer released their third and final pokemon. Paul threw out his own Starmie, (which seems to be a popular pokemon in the tournament) while Len unleashes to the field his trusty Weavile. Paul's pokemon was clearly of the wrong type, which forces him to throw in the towel early. He returns his pokemon to its ball, and concedes defeat.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, PAUL HAS SURRENDERED TO HIS OPPONENT! LEN WINS AS THE FIRST SURRENDER OF THE TOURNAMENT HAS DECIDED THE MATCH!"

"Well that's no fun." Len returns his pokemon as well and makes his way back to the dressing room.

"That was anticlimactic."

"No kidding. I was hoping for a nice battle. But hey, what can you do. You were gonna win anyway."

"Yeah.. but.. I still wanted to fight for it."

"Oh shuddup. Now all you have to do is get ready to battle me."

"Bah, yeah, right, because it'll be a battle."

"What are you saying?"

"That I'll beat you so bad you'll wish you never fought me!" Len laughed and Jacob hit him on the arm.

"Yeah. We'll see."

Len and Jacob went back to their room for the night, and promptly went to sleep. The rest of the group shambled in long after they had knocked themselves out, and proceeded to bed themselves. The next round of battles would be in two days, long enough for John and Heidi to prepare. John was still paranoid of the potential strategy that would possibly be employed, but a few mock training battles would remedy his inhibitions.

Jacob and Len would have to fight each other in next week's battle, which they would blow off as just another battle between friends… for now at least. The next day they became more hostile towards each other, but it wasn't too noticeable. Only Alexandra saw the two going at it was more intense than what it normally was, but she wouldn't mention it to Len, it would probably only worry him. Jacob would only blow off the steam in a battle against Mike anyway, in which this round he would crush him. Mike would reject any rematch offer while Alexandra could still clearly see that Jacob was growing more insecure.

She would approach him, but only to no avail. Normally he'd be elated at an offer from Alexandra to talk just about nothing, but this time he was in no mood. Even he thought it was unusual but Jacob brushed it away, just thinking he wasn't in the right mind today. The coming of tomorrow made it worse. After fighting about sharing a bed the night before, and unconsciously insulting each other in their sleep, everyone began to suffer because of the tension. John was worrying about other things so he couldn't care less about what else was going on, but Bill began to take action. After outright refusal from both parties, Alexandra tried to help again.

"Jacob, what's been bothering you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" His comment was in a snide and unkind tone.

"S-sorry. But can't you just stop this ridiculousness?"

"What ridiculousness? I have to battle my best friend for a chance to become Gym Leader! Of course I'm stressed out!" He stood up from the bench they were sitting on and started pacing in front of her. People walking through the park the two were in noticed, but didn't care enough to stop and stare.

"Jacob, you aren't making much sense…"

"Well what can you expect? You can't imagine what I'm trying to think out now!"

"N-no. I can't, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help you-"

"I don't need help… I'll be fine."

"You obviously aren't though! Just listen!"

"…..Okay, sorry, I'll listen." His attraction towards Alexandra cause him to think before he speaks rashly.

"You're being really scary lately… You aren't being yourself. I know your battle with Len is still 5 days away, but you're acting like it'll be the end of the world!"

"Why can't you talk to Len about it?"

"Because… because you're the one I'm more concerned for. Len has been fine when you leave, but you keep acting so rashly. I don't want to see you like this anymore."

"I-I'm sorry-" She hugs him forcefully.

"Just feel better, okay."

"Y-yeah. Sure." His inhibitions wouldn't leave even though she told him to stop, but tonight he had to focus on cheering for his friend John.


	64. Ch 64: John Vs Jason

Author's Note: If you haven't noticed, it's been a week since the last update. Know what that means? I'm making this a weekly thing now, so... yeah... it's weekly. HAve fun reading.

Chapter 64 John Vs Jason

Jacob got better over the night, and apologized to everyone for his being so asinine. He also wished John luck with the battle for tonight, which he would need a lot of. His strategy of leading off with Volcarona was risky, but whatever came out first, he knew his opponent would do something interesting.

"ROUND 5 OF THE SECOND ROUND IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. ON ONE SIDE WE HAVE JOHN OF GOLDENROD!" Many cheers from the crowd lead up to the next contestant, "AND ON THE OTHER SIDE WE HAVE HIS OPPONENT JAAAAAAAAASOOOOOOOOOON!" The cheers were about the same, but nobody was paying attention to that. They were only concerned with the ensuing battle. "RELEASE YOUR POKEMON AND BEGIN!" John leads off with his Volcarona as planned, while a Blaziken makes its way to the stage in front of him.

Knowing his strategy, a Quiver Dance is used first to power up Volcarona, while his opponent dashes forward and hits its opponent with a Giga Impact attack. It was smart because both a Zoroark and a Blaziken could know that move, and it still did a lot of damage. John followed up with a Bug Buzz, which did a ton of damage to the Blaziken, which morphed slowly back into a Zoroark. The strategy was working perfectly as Volcarona followed up with another Bug Buzz attack, hitting Zoroark hard. The Dark-Type tried to weave its way towards its opponent, but a third and final Bug Buzz defeated the pokemon, which would now have to try to survive the next onslaught.

"ZOROARK IS DOWN AND VOLCARONA WILL TAKE THE FIRST VICTORY TONIGHT!" What he first thought to be a horrible trial, would soon turn very much in his favor as the next pokemon was released. Jason had sent out his Blaziken, which John would combat with his own Fire Type, leaving Volcarona out to battle it. A Blaze Kick does some damage, but Volcarona follows up with a Fire-type move of its own, hurling a Flamethrower at its counterpart. After doing minimal damage, Volcarona follows up with a Heat Wave, also not doing much, as the Blaziken rushes forward to hit it with another Blaze Kick. The battle goes back and forth like this for a little while, each hitting each other minutely over the next few minutes. Each dealing glancing blows, but eventually Volcarona was being run into the ground. A Sky Uppercut into a Blaze kick to the top of its head finished it off.

"AND AFTER A BIG ROUND, VOLCARONA GOES DOWN! HOW WILL JOHN FOLLOW THIS UP?"

"Alright, it's time to get a little ballsy." John grabs his pokeball with his Forretress inside and whips it out to the field, now floating in front of the Blaziken.

"A DARING MOVE. HOW WILL JASON REACT?!"

He reacted by smugly chuckling, then commanding his bruiser to dive in and do something unexpected. Forretress started glowing white, dove right into Blaziken's chest, and then Self Destructed, knocking out both pokemon, and essentially sealing the victory for his Bug-type team.

"WHAT WAS THAT!? HIS FORRETRESS USED A KAMIKAZE ATTACK AND NOW THE ONLY ADVANTAGE JASON HAD IS DOWN THE DRAIN. HOWEVER WILL JOHN REACT TO THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT!?"

The two trainers pulled back their two fainted pokemon, and simultaneously sent out their third and final pokemon each. Scyther takes the stage across from an Absol, and prepares to dash forward. Absol begins to whip up some harsh winds, as the Razor Wind is being prepared. Scyther rushes in and slashes Absol across its body, then follows up with a Swords dance to power up the next move. After diving forward, missing a crunch attack, Razor Wind tears away at the Scyther, nearly ripping its wings. Scyther retaliates with another Slash attack, this time doing much more damage than the last, but Absol counters with a Night Slash to Scyther's thorax. It was hit hard enough to tumble backwards, but got up in time to use Double Team. Now there were copies of Scyther rushing around the battlefield, all diving in on the Absol at once so it didn't know which one hit him with a Slash. Another dive and another Slash attack, another dive and Absol retaliates with a Dark Pulse attack, blasting away the clones and forcing the real attacker to change course with the force of the weakened attack. Alas, Scyther saw another opportunity for attack, and took it. An X-Scissor attack to the back of its hind legs finished the disadvantageous pokemon, leaving John the victor.

"Yaddah yaddah, announcer nonsense, yaddah yaddah, John won, let's go home."

"Jacooob! I wanna see the next battle too!" It was the eyes, THE EYES, her big grey-green eyes looking up at him longingly for this request.

"Oh… aw fine."

"Yaaaaay."

"Stop being so silly Alexandra."

"What?" She asked playfully, "What do you mean?"

"Stop being you."

"Huh?"

"I can't help myself."

She giggles at his odd series of statements, "Okay?"

The two sit next to each other for the next battle as well. Jacob leaves his hand closer to her out on the arm of the shared seats, hoping she'd grab it. He always had these weird ways of trying to advance romantically, and that was one of them. He'd always leave a free hand in between them, silently asking if she'd want to hold it. Of course, she'd never answer, but he thought she just didn't know.

One more battle later, and the night was over. Heidi's battle was going to be tomorrow night, and this night, Jacob wanted to spend with Alexandra. Len had other plans, pulling him away from her side for a moment to explain how all the guys would celebrate John's victory. He had to accept of course, the old rule "Taurbros first" popped up in his head and he can't break the code. The celebration wasn't much though, just a few drinks (there was no drinking age in Kanto) and some burgers bought at the local McDelibird's in the room with music pumping loudly. Heidi and Alexandra were outside the hotel just wandering about, sometimes meeting other people, and sometimes seeing a pokemon wander by. Jacob could see them outside their window. They were high up, but low enough that he could still make out the shapes of a little girl and the attractive one accompanying her… and the guy approaching the two… and the girls backing away… and the guy advancing forward… and the little girl now standing between them…

"Hey guys, I'll be right back.."

"Hurry back dude!"

Jacob grabs the ball with his Metagross inside and calmly exits the room. Then he dashes down the hall to the stairwell, figuring the elevator would be too slow. He reaches the lobby in a matter of seconds, and tries to lightly jog through the room as to not cause a stir. He exits and sees the three of them aren't where they used to be.

"Shit…" Jacob ran to one side of the building and found nothing. He ran around back and to the other side, none of the girls in sight. "CraaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAP!" He ran around to where they were standing before, his head slightly dizzy from the drinks had earlier, and he saw a few figures further away from the building in the park. He couldn't make them out but he ran anyway. He ran as hard as he could, not holding any part of himself back. Maybe it was the booze, but he felt empowered. As he approached the trio he discovered it was indeed Heidi, Alexandra, and some man about 8 years older than himself; he was odd looking, disheveled, dirty, with long scraggly black hair, and grabbing Alexandra's wrist as hard as he could. Heidi was shouting, trying to kick at his legs, but they were more powerful than hers.

"Let go of me!" Alexandra yelled.

"HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" All three turn and look, Heidi with an angry look, the man even angrier, and Alexandra with tears in her eyes.

"Nothing, just go away-"

"Bro!"

"YOU GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER!" Jacob lunged forward, forcing a fist into the other man's cheek. His grip loosened on Alex.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!"

"HOW DARE YOU HURT HER!" Jacob tackled him to the ground and the two started wrestling. Heidi was cheering him on, but Alexandra turned away. Eventually the other person situated himself on top of Jacob's chest and started punching at his head. Jacob could hardly feel the pain as he caught one of the flying fists and landed one of his own in the guy's face. Heidi continued cheering, her wails distracting Jacob from what was at hand, and a fist plows into his temple. Alexandra shouted, and Jacob was close to passing out. Heidi dove in on the person and bit his arm as hard as she could, now diverting attention to the little girl. In the distraction, Jacob pushed his attacker off and stood himself up, just in time to see the man hit Heidi upside the head with a rock that was on the ground near them. She fell in a slump, which once again triggered the rage of a thousand suns from a slightly drunk teenager. Another tackle to the ground later and police finally started to arrive. After pulling Jacob off the guy and handcuffing them both, they called for backup to attend to the little girl. This gave Alexandra the opportunity to tell the cops that Jacob was innocent, and was only trying to save them. The police reluctantly let Jacob go, as an ambulance pulled up, a few paramedics and a Happiny tending to Heidi.

"HEIDI!" Jacob tried to run towards her but a cop held him back, telling him to let the paramedics do their job. He saw a stretcher being pulled out the back of the ambulance, and Heidi being put onto it. "Which hospital!?"

"Hu-"

"I SAID WHICH HOSPITAL!?"

"The one right up the hill that way! Shit, kid!" Heidi was put on board the vehicle and was driven up to the institution.

"Do you want one too? You look pretty banged up-"

"I'm fine, just drive us to the hospital, now." The cop obliged as he guided Jacob and the silent Alexandra to his car. He put the lights on and drove up the hill after the ambulance. Jacob, now finally calming down, turns to Alexandra. "A-are you alright?"

She began crying again, and dove into his chest. "O-oh Jacob. *sniff* I was s-so scared and- and I didn't think anyone would come and- *sniff* and-" Jacob gripped her tightly to his body, wrapping one arm around her back and the other cradling her head. The two buried their heads in the others' shoulders as Jacob comforted her. She wrapped her arms around his back and continued to sob all the way to the hospital.


	65. Ch 65: Panic & Extraction

Author's note: What do you guys think of Silver using the name Mike instead? I thought it fit pretty well, but I kinda wanna see what you guys think.

Chapter 65 Panic & Extraction

The car rolled up to the hospital, Jacob now stumbling out of it, being helped along by Alexandra. The Ambulance had only pulled up shortly before them, so Jacob could see that Heidi was being pulled out on the stretcher, and was wheeled inside.

"C'mon, let's go," he manages to slur, as he tries to pull Alexandra in after him. He tripped, fell, and landed on his front side. Alexandra helped him back up, and essentially had to carry him inside. "Where is that little girl being taken?" He asked the nurse behind the counter.

"To a room on the third floor. You won't be able to see her for a while."

"DAMMIT!" Jacob's led to a chair by Alexandra, and they sit down together, Jacob leaning forward and holding his forehead. Alexandra hovers her hand over his back, debating on whether she should put it down or not. She pulls it back slowly, but sadly, knowing that she probably can't do anything to help his sadness. "A-alex?"

She jumps at his voice, "Yeah Jake?"

"Call the others. Tell them… tell them… not to worry about us. We'll be back before Heidi's match tomorrow." He doesn't know if that's for sure, but he didn't want to worry them. Alex leaves to go find a phone, while Jacob is left by himself in the Hospital lobby. He puts his hands over his face, and leans forward further, sitting on the edge of the chair. "Why.. why did this happen? And now of all times?" He starts to fill up, "Why why why why why why why why why-" he breaks and a few tears fall into his hands. He can't speak and he can hardly breath, while crying alone in the large, empty room. Alexandra comes back, and he doesn't notice. She walks over slowly, and eventually comes standing in front of him. She slowly lowers her body and embraces him in a graceful hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his back. He follows suit, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, his head buried in her neck.

"I'm so sorry…" he sobbed, "I just wanted to protect you. I didn't want that to happen-"

"It's not your fault. Don't worry Jacob."

"No, he hurt Heidi because of me…"

"Jake you saved us both. Please stop this…"

He pulls his head away from her body for a moment. "I'm sorry." He leans forward and unexpectedly kisses her, forcing her to jump a little bit before she can ease into the kiss. After another or second or two the embrace ends, and both of their faces are beat red. "Uh, I'm- uh." She smiles and hugs him again.

Her voice was breaking, "Don't do anything that stupid again…" She leans forward, her face in his chest, and she begins to cry. "I was so scared. That you'd get hurt… but Heidi did, she tried to save you, like you did for me… I feel so horrible."

"It's not your fault. I did a dumb thing and… Heidi was the one that paid for it… It only makes me feel worse if you wrongly blame yourself." Jacob hoists Alex onto his lap, as he sits back into the chair in the lobby, devoid of everything but these two. They hold this position for the entire night into morning, when a nurse wakes them both.

"E-excuse me." Jacob is rustled awake, as is the girl in his arms.

"H-nhuh?"

"You two can see your friend now." After taking the generic few minutes to stretch, the nurse leads them down the hall, up a few floors in the elevator, and around a few corners to where Heidi's room is. She's sitting cheerfully as a program about last night's battles were on, breaking down all of the strategy and what the viewer can do to be a trainer like the winner. She turns to the door and jumps out of her bed to hug her "bro" and "sis", pulling out the IV stuck in her arm. She can hear the scolding of the nurse, but didn't care because she was reunited with her family. She was forced back into the hospital bed, but was still cheerful as ever.

"So how ya doin loser?"

"Shuddup! I'm fine. They just say I have a can-cuss-shtion-"

"Concussion-"

"Yeah, and that-"

The nurse butts in, "-that she shouldn't leave this hospital room for another 48 hours!"

"Well that won't work. She has a battle tonight, she needs to be there."

"I'm sorry, but it's for your own health." The rude nurse slams the door shut on her way out, waking up someone in the next room who starts shouting about something unimportant. Heidi frowns, but Jacob smiles.

"Alex, go back to the hotel room and get the guys."

"…Why?"

"I've always wanted to do this!"

"I can't believe we're doing this-"

"We are ACTUALLY doing this!"

"Dammit Jacob, seriously, what the hell?"

"Heidi has to battle tonight and this is the only way we can get her to do that!"

"Ah, just like in Dungeons and Dragonites!"

"Yeah, except better!" Jacob, John, Len, and Bill were talking amongst themselves inside Heidi's room, readying their plan. Mike and Roy were standing lookout outside of the hospital room, ordered to leave the building after 5 minutes had passed. 4 were currently remaining. Alexandra and Kelly were waiting back in the hotel room, possibly gossiping about girly things.

"Okay, you ready?" Jacob asked the members in the room.

"Let's do this." Len responded, releasing his Honchkrow out the window.

"NOW NINETALES! USE FIRE-" Bill was smacked over the head, Jacob scolding him.

"This isn't a board game! No collateral damage!" Metagross, who was standing outside, saw the Honchkrow flying, and commenced its part of the mission. It flew up towards the window where his friends were waiting, but while orienting himself outside of it, tapped, and subsequently shattered, the glass.

"Welp, we already did SOME damage, let's finish the job! Hammer arm the wall Metagross!"

"Dammit Bill! No Meta-" *SMASH* Bill's command got there first, and Metagross had punched a giant hole in the wall where the window was. Heidi was jumping for joy and laughing her heart out.

"GODDAMNIT, HURRY UP NOW." Jacob Threw Heidi Out the window, Honchkrow catching her, then flying away. "Roy and Mike should be leaving in a minute, now let's get as far away from here as possible!"Jacob, Len, and Bill hop on Metagross while Volcarona materializes next to it. John hops on his ride, and the four of them take a diagonal to the ground, further away from the building. They were able to see Roy and Mike sprinting out the front doors, while being chased by a few security members.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU IDIOTS DO!?"

"SHUT UP MIKE JUST RUN!" Jacob didn't have to order twice, while the group sprinted away from the hospital, out of reach of the older security guards.

They eventually made it to the hotel, out of breath, and tired. Apparently the police were going to be involved, and Jacob needed a favor from Mike.

"No I won't give you that much money!"

"Hey, you're an accomplice! You're as guilty as I am!"

"…..Fine!" He teleported away after releasing Alakazam, then came back not two minutes later. "Here, hurry up!"

Jacob runs to the counter, and hands the woman behind it the 50000 pokeyen, "We don't live in this building, okay!?"

"Wha-?"

"We just need to hide for a few more days, erase our names, say we checked out earlier today or something, just make it so the police won't find us here!"

"WHAAAAA-!?"

"Don't worry, we just broke out of a hospital, nothing major! Just please, we are in the tournament!" The woman is still looking at the money in her hands, and forms a devious smile.

"That won't be a problem Mr. Smith!" Jacob starts to laugh in triumph as he swayed the hostess to his favor in such a short time.

"Now hurry up, back to the room! Go!" The six enter the elevator and just as the door closes, policemen walk through the front entrance.

"Excuse me, miss, we are looking for these kids, do they live here?" He hands her pictures from the security cameras in the Hospital. A very clear shot of Mike, a slightly blurred part on Roy's face, a very blurry shot of Bill, while Jacob, John, Len, and Heidi all had bad images as well.

"Oh, I'm sorry, they checked out today!" She said with a cheerful smile.

"Can we check your records-"

"Sure!" She turns the computer monitor towards the men. It shows the checkout for the time of the group, listed at 4:30; the time of the "Smiths" signing into that room was 4:50.

"Crap. They're probably long gone now. Thanks miss. We need to check other places now…" The police men walk out the front door, to eventually lose the trail of the idiot kids who broke out of a hospital.


	66. Ch 66: Heidi Vs Matt

Chapter 66 Heidi vs. Matt

"Heidi, do you know anything about your opponent?" Roy asked as he walked the girl to the stadium.

"Nope!"

"That's not good Heidi. You never know what he might throw at you!"

"Psh, I'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiiine."

"You know he has a Rock-type pokemon, right?"

"Soooooooooooooooo?" Heidi's confidence was turning into conceitedness.

"So be careful on the battlefield! He uses odd pokemon that are based around copying things. The man has three Smeargle!"

"Why are you worrying? You know I got this!"

"Because I want to see you win obviously."

"Heehee, well thanks, Roy." She smiles up at him as they approach the doors meant for trainers only.

"Well good luck!" He pats her head only to have it slapped away.

"Stop thaaaat! I'm not a little kid!"

"You look like one to me! " He laughs as she pouts and stomps through the double doors on her way to her battle later that evening.

* * *

The normal intros were had, the first battle came and went, and Jacob was falling asleep in his seat, still unable to comprehend the events of last night. He was sure Alexandra felt the same way because she would always blush after she took a quick look back at him. The tension followed through from after the first battle into the start of Heidi's battle, even after the announcer's booming voice started:

"IT'S TIME FOR THE LAST MATCH OF THE SECOND ROOOOOOUUUUNNNNNNDD! HERE IN ONE SIDE WE HAVE THE FAVORITE TO WIN IT ALL, AND THE MOST ADORABLE GIRL YOU'LL EVER SEE, HEEEEEIIIIIIIIIDIIIIIIIIII!" She came out jumping and cheering like always, going along with the chanting of the crowd. "AND OPPOSITE HER, WE HAVE THE ELUSIVE MAN, COPY CAT MATT!" An odd name, Jacob thought, but the crowd cheered nonetheless. The two competitors threw out their first pokemon, while the two lovebird in the seats next to each other shot forward to see the first picks. Torkoal versus a Smeargle. Heidi thought that this would be simple. Heidi thought wrong.

The first move to come from the Smeargle was an Attract, immobilizing Torkoal with love. When told to snap out of it, an Ice Beam landed solidly around the feet of the Fire-type, which melted away the icy attack with an Ember. Now that it was ready to dive, Sucker Punch came flying out of the Smeargle, knocking the Torkoal back a bit. The Fire-turtle pounced back with a Take Down attack, dealing a lot of damage and burning the Smeargle. Another attack was commanded but Torkoal was being affected by the earlier attract, and was unable to attack. This gave Smeargle another opportunity to freeze Torkoal using Ice Beam, but it was only able to hit the tail before it dashed to the side, readying another Tackle. A Sweet Kiss from Smeargle countered the ensuing attack, confusing Heidi's pokemon. Heidi, now seeing the strategy, returned her pokemon mid-battle, and released her Lucario. Seeing the current disadvantage, Matt also switched… to a Ditto.

"A DOUBLE SWITCH MID BATTLE! WHAT CAN WE EXPECT NEXT!?"

Heidi knew that Ditto was a Normal Type, but after it Transformed it would be harder to take down, so she immediately commanded an Aura Sphere attack to hit the Ditto. After an anticlimactic direct-hit, Ditto had become it's opponent in body, but not in mind or strength. Lucario was still faster than Ditto, and more powerful, and the crowd was left on the edge of their seats when Lucario started in on its doppelganger. Close Combat smoothly into a Force Palm did a fair amount of damage to the Ditto, but it knew what it had to do. A Counter attack coming out of the clone leveled the original Lucario, knocking it straight off of its feet, and almost downing it instantly. Lucario tried to get back up, but an Extremespeed knocked it out right then and there.

"AND DITTO HAS EARNED THE FIRST KNOCKOUT OF THE MATCH. HOW CAN THE LITTLE BALL OF FUN RESPOND?!" The crowd started getting up on their feet in support for Heidi, pushing people everywhere close together, including the awkward lovebirds in the front row. As Heidi tossed out her next pokemon, the crowd hooped and hollered, and Jacob's face grew redder and redder as Alexandra came closer to him. Now shoulder to shoulder, they were standing as well, now watching the battle, but not as enthusiastically as the rest.

Torkoal took the stage and fired a Flamethrower at the agile Ditto, still in the Lucario's form. It tried to use a Close Combat itself, but the defenses of the Torkoal were too much for the improvised Fighting Type, which was finished off by a too-close-for-comfort Fire Blast to the stomach. Cheering from the crowd was booming, and Heidi was very pleased as another Smeargle came from a pokeball. It was a different Smeargle, because it was shiny. Jacob yelled and Alexandra cheered as they comfortably stood one in front of the other, because their friends around them were getting very into the battle, jumping around whenever they could.

The shiny Smeargle started off by jumping forward with a High Jump Kick, but missed and injured itself when Torkoal side-stepped and Rapid-Spinned away. The next move wouldn't miss though, because a Mind Reader landed onto the Torkoal. Knowing another big attack was coming, Heidi tried to pull out all the stops in another offensive, hurling an Overheat at the Smeargle. A direct hit couldn't stop it from its next attack, as its tail became a giant claw, which gripped the Torkoal's neck, and threw it across the stage. The Guillotine attack did its work, as the crowd grew silent. Alexandra gasped and fell backwards into Jacob, forcing an arm to wrap around her stomach.

Heidi could only smile, knowing she'd have to pull out the trump card. Arcanine, hugely and menacingly, left the pokeball in which it was contained. Immediately out of the ball it charged forward with a Crunch attack, picking up the Smeargle within its jaws and shaking it ruthlessly. Smeargle was able to hit it with a Draco Meteor attack while it was distracted in trying to one-shot its foe. The Arcanine only grew angry, now charging forward with the force of a freight train, knocking out its opponent in a Take Down attack.

The crowd went insane, knowing that Heidi was preparing to with this fight, and you couldn't even hear the announcer over the noise being created by the crowd as the first Smeargle came out to fight. Arcanine ferociously darted forward, knocking Smeargle flat on its back with an Extremespeed attack. Smeargle tried to retaliate with its Ice Beam, but it wasn't enough as a Fire Blast to the face finished the match, and the crowd would not let up. This last battle of the night was just as good as her last one, and her fanbase would only grow after that. Amongst the cheering of the crowd and Jacob's friends jumping around in celebration, Jacob still had one arm around Alexandra, and one in the air, hi-fiving all of the hands it could. Roy would be the first to leave, to try to give Heidi an escort, like after the last match, and everyone was still jumping around even after the two competitors left the main stage. As the crowd dispersed and they were able to slowly make their way up the stairs, Jacob had found he was unconsciously holding Alexandra's hand.

After realizing this, his face grew very red, and luckily nobody noticed as he continued up the stairs with her hand in his. The group eventually made it back to the front of the hotel, where Jacob and Alexandra elected themselves to wait for Heidi and Roy, who they didn't know were out getting a meal to fill their stomachs, and as a reward for her victory of course. They sat side by side for an hour, still holding hands, on a bench outside of the hotel. It wasn't a very cold night, but it was enough to make Jacob shiver.

"You cold?"

"Nah, not really, I'm fine. What about you?"

"I kinda am… can we wait inside?"

"We caaaan, but the stars are really beautiful tonight." They both looked up, and she agreed, now holding his arm with both of hers.

"Jacob… about… last night…" Her grip loosened, so Jacob took the opportunity to put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"I wanted to say… that I really really really like you, and I have for a really long time now… and last night, when I was a little… off… and I kissed you… and you didn't push me away, I was really really happy, because it's something I've wanted for a long time… I've always liked you, because… you're just so… amazing. I think you're… just… the best girl in the world." He was still looking up at the stars, but Alexandra started looking at the silhouette of his face. "I can't put it into words how much I like you but… I just, I want you to be my girlfriend!" He somewhat shouted this last line, which left Alexandra silent. She couldn't make into words what she was thinking right now because so much was racing through her mind.

She hugged him, "I'd love to be your girlfriend," and she smiled up at him. He turned his head and smiled back down at her, now hugging her back, as Heidi and Roy choose this moment to walk up and end their night.


	67. Ch 67: Jacob Vs Len

Chapter 67 Jacob Vs. Len

The few days between rounds of the tournament passed like nothing, days seamlessly intertwined into each other leading up to Jacob's fated battle versus his best friend. This was the first of four battles that were the quarter finals, and because the league probably wanted to squeeze every last penny out of the audience, they will have one per night into next week when the semi finals, finals, and elite four start. Either way, tonight was the night. The only two competitors made their way onto the battlefield, now standing across from each other.

"CONGRATULATIONS COMPETITORS ON MAKING IT THIS FAR. IN THIS ROUND, THE QUARTERFINALS, THE BATTLES WILL BE SINGLE BATTLES FEATURING YOUR SIX-POKEMON TEAM. LAST POKEMON STANDING WINS IT!" The crowd started to really get into it now that both battlers drew their first balls, Jacob, a black one, and Len, a blue one. The announcer readied the countdown, and signaled the fight to begin.

Togekiss floated gracefully across from Houndoom, which growled at its friend. Pep talks from each trainer before the match stated to throw away any and all inhibitions about fighting a friend, and to go all out. This was cured as an Aura Sphere from the Togekiss was sent flying as fast as ever at the Houndoom, which dodged and threw back a flamethrower attack. Togekiss countered with its own Flamethrower, forcing a stalemate and a subsequent explosion in the middle of the battlefield. Houndoom was able to dash through the smoke and get close enough to land a Crunch attack on Togekiss' wing, forcing it to tumble to the ground and land. After using Roost, Togekiss attempted an Ancient Power, which was also easily dodged, and countered by the Houndoom's speed. It fired a Smokescreen into Togekiss' vicinity, and mixed it up with a poison gas move. Togekiss could hardly breathe as an Ember flew in, ignited the poison gas, and rendered a huge explosion, knocking out Jacob's first pokemon.

He confidently drew back Togekiss, telling it that it had done a good job, and whipped out his next pokemon: Exploud. He knew it would be a stretch, but it might start listening to him today. After commanding a Hyper Voice, it ignored orders and charged in with a Giga Impact, missing the Houndoom who followed up with a Flamethrower. Now that Exploud was angry and burnt, Jacob commanded an Endeavor attack, which it did just that, and nearly knocked out Len's pokemon there. Jacob commanded a Mega Punch attack, but once again, Exploud ignored his trainer, and used Mega Kick, once again missing, allowing Houndoom another attack on the beast. Jacob commanded once more for a Mega Punch, which worked in the end, as a fist to the face of the Houndoom knocked it out, forcing Len to call it back.

"See what happens when you listen?" Exploud huffed and accepted that his new owner might have something to him, and will humor him in this next engagement. Mightyena was the next pokemon to be seen, bursting out of the pokeball it was contained in with a howl. Almost immediately, Exploud used Focus Blast to Jacob's command, dealing massive amounts of damage from the get-go. Mightyena retaliated with a Crunch, biting down harshly on Exploud's arm. This led Exploud to use Hammer Arm to slam the Mightyena down into the ground, almost knocking it out. After slowly getting back up, it tried to pounce one more time, but was stopped mid-air by a Hyper Voice attack, then finished off with a Mega Punch. Exploud saw that this strategy worked, and was pleased with his owner, giving him a small nod. The crowd was really getting into it now that Len was down two pokemon to one, so he decided to get more serious.

Sharpedo darted out of its safari ball, hitting Exploud head-on with an Aqua Jet attack. Forcing Exploud to stumble back; Sharpedo followed up with a very harsh Bite, doing that much more damage to the already fatigued pokemon. Exploud tried to retaliate with a well timed Hyper Voice, which knocked the quick water pokemon off course, and rolling into the ground. An Earthquake attack did a lot more damage than what Jacob thought. Sharpedo readied itself and unleashed a Hyper Beam attack, finishing off the normal type pokemon. Jacob was now set back a big bruiser on his team, but Len knew what would come next. Len was craving it, begging for the challenge, and Jacob answered him.

Munch came out of his pokeball in a slump, not very intimidating at all, but Len knew this guy packed much more of a punch than it looked. Snorlax stood back up, and use Belly Drum, the sound of the monster pounding on his stomach resonating throughout the stadium. Len answered with another Aqua Jet, the Sharpedo plowing itself into the giant squishy stomach of its opponent. Now trying to down it before it can go to sleep, Sharpedo followed up with a Crunch to one of Snorlax's arms, but Snorlax fell asleep anyway, not caring about the fangs piercing its skin. Now trying to do as much damage as possible, Sharpedo frantically rammed itself into the sleeping pile of fat multiple times, each one dealing less damage than the last. Snorlax stood up in its slumber, and while using Sleep Talk, performed the move Strength, slamming its arm into the face of the speedy pokemon that tried to dart around it. Sharpedo tumbled, and stopped, nearly being knocked out by that one move.

Now, Snorlax had fully awakened, and used Metronome in an attempt to find a finishing move appropriate for the occasion. After waving its arms and taking a Take Down to the stomach, he found an unconventional move, but it worked just the same. Quick Attack took the opponent pokemon completely off guard, and Sharpedo had gone down just as quick as Snorlax moved. Len was only getting started now. As Jacob thanked Munch for a job well done, a pokemon Jacob didn't think he would see entered the battlefield. Now, Zweilous took center stage, and Jacob knew he'd have to finish it quickly if he had a shot at winning this battle. Munch took a battle ready position, and took the Dragonbreath attack head on, but got paralyzed in the process. Now moving slower than it was before, the colossal titan ran forward and attempted a Body Slam attack. Nearly getting the entirety of its opponent's body underneath it, Snorlax had succeeded in its attack, once again dealing massive amounts of damage to Len's pokemon.

Zweilous retaliated with a Dragon Pulse from straight underneath the Snorlax, launching it high into the air. This gave Snorlax the opportunity to put a strategy into effect: using Ice Beam to rotate it, Snorlax began spinning at high speeds as it made its way back to earth, preparing for the mother of all Rollout Attacks. Zweilous couldn't let that happen, and hurled its own trump card back up at the Normal-type. As Meteors are spawned from the ground and hurled upwards at Munch, Snorlax broke through every one while only increasing its rotation speed, taking damage every time it smashed through a boulder. Each meteor broken was another bead of sweat on either trainers' forehead, as Snorlax finally impacted the ground where Zweilous stood, only to have the dust clear and both pokemon were knocked out. The crowd, now up and standing on their feet, awaited the next matchup between the experienced trainers. Len only had two more available pokemon while Jacob had three, and he had to try to come back from losing his most powerful one. Jacob also had to formulate a strategy for whatever pokemon would come out next. Because both trainers needed to send out both their pokemon at once, Jacob found himself at a disadvantage. Now, Venasaur stood across from Weavile, in a matchup that wouldn't take long to finish.

Venasaur tried to get something started when it used Leech Seed and landed a few on Weavile's body, but it simply couldn't recover from the speed and type disadvantage, taking an Ice Beam head on and nearly being downed by it. A Mega Drain did little to restore health, and the Leech Seed just a tiny bit more. Venasaur attempted to get a hit in with a Vine Whip, but Weavile was just a bit faster, able to get in close with a Night Slash, followed up with another Ice Beam. Venasaur was out immediately, and Jacob knew there was no more fooling around. His next pokemon out would be his trusty giant steel behemoth, now darting forward from its pokeball with a Bullet Punch attack. Dealing a ton of damage to its Ice-type counterpart, Metagross stood menacingly over the downed Weavile, preparing the finishing blow. Meteor Mash was caught colliding with a Night Slash, but Metagross easily overpowered it because with every passing second, Leech Seed was still sucking the life out of Weavile, and it simply could not hold its own anymore.

Len, down to his last pokemon, called on his favorite, his Umbreon. Knowing a Hammer Arm could do it in with one shot, he told Umbreon to ready itself by using Bulk Up; the power up would be no match, because that's when Metagross used Agility. Now being vastly out-sped and out-powered, Umbreon could hardly keep an eye on the speedy chunk of metal darting about the arena. An opportunity arose, and a Sucker Punch nailed Metagross in its weak spot, slowing it down enough for Umbreon to hit it with a Faint Attack. Seeing as he can gain an upper hand here, Len commanded an Earthquake attack, which disrupted Metagross' magnetic flying capabilities, and forced it to ram into the ground. Another quick Faint attack before it could get up would be the last thing Umbreon would do before finally meeting its match. With the force of an explosion, Metagross used Take Down on Umbreon, then while floating, spun its arm extremely fast to land the destined Hammer Arm onto Umbreon's downed body.

The body twitched, then vanished in a poof of smoke. The substitute had worked, and Umbreon landed another Sucker Punch on the unsuspecting Metagross. A Bullet Punch deterred another ensuing attack from the Dark Type, which attempted its strongest move: Last Resort. Umbreon dashed forward and began charging at Metagross. Jacob took this challenge and commanded the super effective Hammer Arm attack once more, with Metagross now charging towards Umbreon. The two met in a fury at the center of the arena, and an explosion filled the area where the point of contact was with smoke. After a few seconds, and the dust had cleared, Metagross was standing proudly, but definitely beaten up well, over Umbreon's limp body. The crowd roared, Jacob thanked Metagross for a job well done, and met Len at center stage.

"Toldya I'd win."

"Oh shut up. You're still buying me dinner later."

"Of course, of course." They parted ways again to make their ways to their respective locker rooms, where each had a bombardment of interviewers asking all sorts of questions. The two eventually met up again outside of the stadium, accompanied by their friends, and they all walked towards the nearest diner for some food.


	68. Ch 68: Cheater

Chapter 68. Cheater

The days between matches Jacob and his friends were obligated to go to were spent by wasting time altogether. With the semi-finals in mind, Jacob was taking it rather easy, while John and Heidi were both starting to feel the effects of having a quarter final match. John stayed cool and collected, while Heidi decided it would be better to begin freaking out about it. She would later take out this emotion in a pokemon battle against Roy, the only member of the team she could compete with, and calm down over time. They didn't bother going to the pokemon match today because the temperature was steadily getting lower and lower, and the cold would only distract them from watching the fight anyway.

Jacob spent his "day off" with Alexandra, watching a movie in the hotel room, then walking around one of the nearby museums. Mike spent time with Len and Bill; he needed some way to cheer up after having lost the battle of love against Jacob, so the three of them "adventured" around, cracking jokes, making fun of what went on around them, and generally having a good time. Heidi spent the day hovering over Roy, interrupting any attempt made at doing something alone. Nobody really knew why Heidi was so attached Roy, but they never questioned her motives anyway. John spent his day researching his next opponent. Watching videos of their previous battle, he would take note of the opponent's strategies and his pokemons' favorite moves. After watching a several videos from round 1 on, he noticed something… off.

In the video he was watching, he noticed something the judges hadn't in real time. After calling back one of his pokemon, it waddled off to stand next to him, and took something from its trainer's grasp, then returned to the pokeball. From the shape and color, this item looked like it was a Sitrus Berry... John pulls out his rule book and checks the rule on held items.

"A pokemon can use various held items, specifically the ones listed below… blah blah blah… no berries… allowed. Holy shit he's cheating." He knew he had to bring this to an official soon, but had no idea where to find one. He grabbed his laptop, put it in his backpack, threw on his jacket and ran towards the elevator. He darted out into the lobby and slammed his hand down on the counter, "Where can I find a judge for the tournament ASAP!?" The girl behind the counter cowered and suggested where to go.

"Y-you might be able to find out my going to the m-main concourse!"

"Thanks!" He dashes away and heads towards a moderately large building across the road from the stadium. This is the building where the officials and judges make their final decisions about a battle during the contest, and where people can gain information about a trainer in the tournament. There's much more available, but the detail is excruciatingly painful to go over, so we'll skip that for now. Anyway, he ran there as quickly as he could, nearly out of breath as he busted through the front doors. Gasping for air, he asked the receptionist, "Where can I find the nearest judge!?"

"Ah, he just went upstairs actually!" The girl behind the counter pulls out a small book and flips through it. "You can find him oooonnnnnnn theeeeeeeeeee third floor! Room 312."

"Thank you so much!" John dashed away up the staircase, now making himself more out of breath, and tries to compose himself now that he is standing in front of room 312. He catches his breath, and gently knocks on the door.

"WHATTDYA WANT?!"

"Oh, um, I'm uh, here looking for a battle official!"

"YEAH THAT'S ME, GIMME A MINUTE." John can hear shuffling from behind the closed door, then after a loud grunt and the turning of the knob, a short, stout man pulls it open. John has to look down at the man with a slight disregard for his company, and has to try to plead this case of cheating.

"H-hi-"

"Well? What do ya need? I ain't got all day!" The rude man waved him into the room, where papers lay about on tables, seemingly thrown there just recently in a rush. The television had a screening paused- it was the same battle John was watching, and right before the item was handed to the contestant's pokemon.

"Oh! You have it up on the screen!"

"Eh, whattdya mean?"

"Did you see it too? How this contestant cheated!?"

"Wha-….. No.. I haven't. Show me, where he cheats." The shorter man said the last few words with a silent confidence, as if he knew exactly what John meant. John hits the play button and pauses it not a minute later, to the same screen shot where his laptop was.

"Right here!" He runs up to the television and points at the screen to where the handoff takes place.

"Hmm…. What do you see here?" He says it again, with the same tone as his last sentence. As if John is simply stating facts.

"Here, he's handing his Empoleon a Sitrus berry! Isn't that illegal?"

"I'm glad at least one person doesn't think I'm crazy!" The man starts laughing, and in his confusion, John asks him a question.

"Uhh, sir, what are you talking about?"

"I've been poring over the same exact clip for days and you spotted it too! Now with another witness I can finally throw this cheater under the bridge!" He grabs John by the arm and pulls him out the door, down the hall, to a small conference room where a few more men were sitting, just shooting the breeze. Well, that is until this man and the boy he dragged with him busted through the door.

"I have something to show you gentlemen!" It was obvious the other three men in the room were also judges, but John couldn't be sure what level they were on. The man went on a rampant adventure to hook up the nearest laptop to the projector, focus it correctly, and find the clip on the internet. After pausing at the exact moment again, and pointing at the berry in the trainer's hand, the man shouts, "I told you it was a Sitrus Berry! This kid saw it too!" Now pointing at John, forcing the attention of the three other judges to look at him too.

"And who would this kid be?"

"I'm uh, a contestant in the tournament…"

"What's your name?"

"John, nice to meet you all." His greeting fell flat on the other judges in the room.

"Well Harry, you managed to find the most biased person towards this case, but I guess if he saw this too then I guess you may be right. We will investigate further, but I'm not sure we can get a result by tomorrow night."

"Haha! The boss will surely give me a raise for this!"

"HEY! We still have to investigate this matter-" The man stops midsentence and looks horrifyingly behind John. John turns around to see a man the same height as him, in a very nice suit. He was good looking, and not much older than John was, or so it seemed.

"What seems to be the problem Ralph?" The man who just walked in was now talking to the man who stopped mid sentence earlier.

"Well-uh-we-uh-just-agh,"

"Calm down Ralph, ok, Harry, what's that up on the screen?"

"It's the issue we debated last week! Remember how it couldn't pass the vote? Well, I found someone who thought the same thing as us!"

"Oh!" Now the man turns to John, "So you saw the cheating too? Well that's a relief. Although it's true we can't have an investigation without a majority vote, but with his testimony, we can start one. Besides, I can pull a few strings."

"Ahahaha! Thanks boss! I knew we weren't crazy!"

"Hahah, okay Harry, you'll be the first to find out when the results come in," He turns to John, "And you'll be the second. I had a hunch someone else would catch it and take action."

"I'm sorry," John started, "And you would be…?"

"Oh, my apologies, I'm Winchester, the head judge. And you are?"

"John, it's nice to meet you. Aren't you the person that needs to face this battler next?"

"Yeah, I came across this after researching his other videos. I was just watching to study up on him-"

"Oh yes yes I know what you're talking about. I used to be a trainer like you too, don't worry. I know exactly what you're going through. We'll have a decision on the matter by tomorrow, just go back to your room and wait for an e-mail."

Not even three hours had passed before the announcement in the news was made. "The trainer in question, when asked about the event in question, broke down and confessed to cheating, being disqualified from the tournament. Because the person he beat in the previous round had already left for home, and there was no way to contact him, the trainer's next opponent will go onto the Semi Finals uncontested."

John took the news extremely happily, now knowing he had to train for the next round, but now he was afraid of who his next opponent would be… The little girl across the hotel room didn't know he was afraid to battle her.


	69. Ch 69: Heidi Vs Skye

Chapter 69. Heidi Vs Skye

With John onto the Semi Finals, Heidi's match was moved up to today, where the cancelled match was originally scheduled. She was excited to battle sooner than expected, and was her normal, fired-up self before the battle. Roy, by request, once again escorted her down and wished her luck. Heidi would blush and skip into the locker room, heart pounding with excitement. She would need here little green jacket and hat tonight, because it was going to be a cold battle. Even though the contest was set to begin at sunset, the clouds covered the sun and made it at least 5 degrees colder. She shivered while holding her Flareon, and she knew tonight's battle would be tough because her opponent used Dragons.

She was still blindly confident she would win, and was well on her way out the door before the cold reality hit her. A harsh wind blew in from her opponent's side of the ring as the announcer introduced the trainers. Heidi would obviously gain more cheers, but the intense looking girl across the battle zone didn't care for cheers. The first pokemon of the battle would be revealed, and the matchup was already against Heidi. Noctowl versus Haxorus was an unfair battle, and would be settled shortly.

After a quick Aerial Ace from Noctowl, he attempted Hypnosis on the Dragon, but failed when a Draco Meteor slammed it out of the sky and into the ground. The subsequent Take Down attack would finish the first battle of the night, silencing the crowd.

Heidi now had a semblance of what she was going to face, and she didn't like it one bit. This Haxorus was powerful, but even a small pokemon could take it down with a correctly timed move. Her next pokemon brought out a gasp from the stadium. It's the first time she's used her Wartortle this tournament, but she was confident in its abilities. Also considering it was the only pokemon on her team that knew Ice Beam, she had to get as much out of it as she could.

Wartortle started with a Rapid Spin attack to get in close to the Haxorus. When it tried to use Dual Chop, Wartortle used water gun to change its trajectory, and slammed into the Haxorus' chest. Now in the perfect position, Ice Beam came spewing out of Wartortle's mouth, making direct contact with Haxorus' chest. It was still standing because of the relatively weak ice-type attack, but after using another Rapid Spin into the giant dragon, Wartortle continued on the offensive. Now off balance, Haxorus attempted a Draco Meteor, which was dodged by the small turtle pokemon, now getting in close again to land another Ice Beam attack. This one did massive amounts of damage, and another one would surely finish it off. Heidi knew this, and continued to assault the much larger and much more threatening pokemon, dodging attacks with protect and continuously pounding the Haxorus with Bubblebeam attacks. A Dragon Tail attack slammed the dodgy Wartortle hard, forcing it back into its ball, now calling out Heidi's Flareon. A lucky pick for the little girl.

Flareon now goes into action quickly, using Fire Blast straight out of the ball, following it up with a Take Down attack, finally knocking out the behemoth. Heidi's happiness is short lived now that the score is evened up, and nobody expected Skye, dubbed "The new dragon tamer," to have this pokemon in her belt. The Electivire stood menacingly over Flareon, not only making an impression on it, but also making the statement "don't send out your Wartortle again."

It didn't matter though, Heidi would have the perfect strategy for this matchup. Electivire came charging in with a Thunderpunch, but was smacked in the face with a sand attack maneuver. It missed and ran past the Flareon, but turned around, still charging at the smaller fire-type. Flareon would once again use sand attack, now forcing the Electivire to stop in its tracks and wipe the dirt away.

"Huh..."

"Sup Jacob?"

"Nothing... I just thought this was really familiar..."

This gave Heidi the opportunity to put her plan into action, using dig and burrowing underneath Electivire, and getting its leg stuck in a pitfall. Now immobilized, Flareon circled around under the dirt and jumped at its opponent, violently biting down on its arm with a Fire Fang. It was tossed aside, but becasue Electivire was still unable to move, Flareon continued on the offensive. It dove underground again, got its other leg stuck in a hole, and this time popped up from the ground and prepared itself. It breathed in a lot of air and heaved a huge Overheat attack directly at its foe, knocking it out instantaneously.

Heidi didn't have time to cheer for herself, now that she was back up two pokemon to one, considering her opponent's next pokemon: Garchomp. The ground type pokemon would have a strong resistance against fire types, so Heidi made the smart switch back out to Wartortle. It wasn't weakened too much from its previous bout, and it was still ready to go.

Garchomp ran screaming towards its much smaller opponent, which used Withdraw to raise its defenses before the Dragon Rush was able to hit it. Now with its shell flying across the arena, Wartortle was able to use rapid spin to pick up even more momentum, turning back through the air straight towards the Garchomp. Combining this rapid spin with a skull bash was the first idea on Heidi's mind, but seeing as Garchomp was preparing itself to dodge, she had another brilliant idea. As Garchomp jumped upwards, Wartortle was commanded to stop spinning and kick off the ground with a Hydro Pump. Wartortle was far enough away that its new trajectory sent it straight into Garchomp's face, knocking out a tooth while it was in the air. Wartortle was stopped because of the force of the attack, and was now falling back towards the ground above a falling Garchomp. This was its chance.

Wartortle hurled an Ice Beam at its foe, but Garchomp saw this coming and used the fins on its arms to glide out of the way, landing safely on the icy ground. Wartortle landed only a few seconds later, but this was enough time for Garchomp to charge straight at it, landing a very harsh Dragon Rush attack. Wartortle was tumbling on the ground, unable to get a grip and stand back up. Garchomp used this to its advantage and used Earthquake, dealing even more damage to the weakened water-type pokemon. Heidi's chances of winning were growing slimmer as her ace this round was getting closer to fainting. Wartortle was hardly unable to stand when its ability kicked in. Torrent allowed one last powerful Hydro Pump attack to be launched from its mouth, but it only grazed Garchomp as it charged in for the win. Wartortle withdrew into its shell once more, hopefully able to embrace the impact, but the Outrage maneuver hit it directly, and hit it hard. Garchomp slammed the shell of the pokemon down into the ground, releasing a large cloud of dust into the area.

"Wartortle! No!" Heidi was extremely worried for her friend, and the judge was just about ready to give the battle to Garchomp. His red flag was raised about half way when a loud rumble was heard. The low rumbling began at a very low decible, then picked up along with the strength of the winter winds.

"Mmmmmmm-RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBLAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA!" The cloud of dust was soon replaced by a cloud of snow, a Blizzard now whipping up around where Wartortle was suppossedly finished off. The winds howled all over the stadium, and snow materialized from the air, now battering Skye's Garchomp. It had no idea what to do while the form emerging from the mass of snow charged forward. Garchomp was consumed by the Blizzard, and slammed into hard by a Skull Bash attack, knocking it down and nearly wiping it out. The Blizzard continued to whip around the form that had attacked the dragon-type pokemon, as a hailstorm began to whip around the Stadium. Many people ran from their seats, and the few that stayed would witness the wrath of Heidi's pokemon. Garchomp, now fleeing for its life from the giant blue mass charging towards it, tripped and fell over a rock. It began to crawl away but its ankle was snatched by the pokemon behind it, and proceeded to jump high into the air. The Hail, the Blizzard that was still ongoing, and the Seismic Toss all combined to ultimately blast the Garchomp to near death. Skye was forced to return her fainted pokemon to its ball, while Heidi was left with an option of her own.

To allow the continuing rampage of this pokemon would ensure the victory, but even Heidi was being overwhelmed by its power. The seats were nearly empty because of the extremely strange weather phenomenon, and Skye was near tears as she had to draw another pokeball simply to stay in this tournament. Heidi knew the decision she had to make, and commanded Wartortle back to its ball. The red beam hit the mass that was supposed to be Wartortle, and it bounced right off of it.

"Return!" A failed attempt.

"RETURN!" A violent growl signaled the disobedience of her pokemon.

"I. SAID. RETURN." Now remembering the days back to when it was a Squirtle, it recognized the face Heidi was making: the evil and demonic one she made when she went overboard and pushed all of her pokemon to exhaustion. The Blizzard subsided, the Hailstorm stopped, and the Blastoise whimpered, retreating back to its shell, and accepting its master's orders to get back inside of its home.

Skye fell to her knees and knew what she was up against was something she'll never be able to overcome, and purely out of fear for her dignity and her own pokemon, she surrendered the match to Heidi. She was moving on to the Semi finals, but she didn't feel happy about it at all. Of course her match would make the headlines in the newspapers the next day, and her legions of fans would support her in her next battle, but she was afraid. With her Blastoise acting out she finally realized what she did to her own pokemon in the past, and she felt horrible because of it.

Heidi quickly got over those inhibitions from after the battle yesterday, like any 13 year old girl would, and was now looking toward the future. She knew her next opponent was John, and wasn't afraid at all. John was only a little, but then he would remember that his opponent was a victim of his silly teasing. She would get flustered at the stupidest comments, and it would only serve John and Mike some laughter. He thought of her as an adorable little sister, and could only take her seriously on the battlefield.

On the other hand, Jacob had to battle a man named Ben, who used pokemon more often known to have been celestial in the past. He figured that odd strategies will come from that, but not too many big problems will come of it. He's had different challenges in the past, and now, with 5 days before his Semi final Battle, he had to start strategizing. The Semis were double battle format, and he was already thinking of some rediculous combos he could pull off.


	70. Ch 70: Jacob Vs Ben

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I had laptop issues that needed to be resolved and the only way to do that was to send it in to tech support for two weeks. It wasn't fun... I missed my baby... lol, well here it finally is, round one of the semi-finals, have fun reading.

Chapter 70 Jacob vs. Ben

"Stooooooooooooooooooop."

"No."

"Pleeeeaaaaaaassssseeeee?" Heidi looked up to her harasser and shone him a big smile."

"No."

"C'mon! Give it back!"

Roy began to laugh as the two walked down the street back towards the hotel, "It's not like you need it or anything!- Whoop!" He was taunting her by holding a bag of candy just out of her reach. It was her favorite kind too.

"Stop being such a jerk!" She tried to dive at him but he side stepped the girl, still holding the bag out of reach. "I won fair and square!"

"That was not fair! Constantly switching your pokemon during the middle of the fight just to have a small leg up on me was an unfair strategy!"

"It's not against the rules! Besides, just admit that you're a loser that lost already!"

Roy shoots her a blank stare. "How many times have you lost to me?"

Heidi becomes flustered, "SHUDDUP!" Roy laughs out loud and lowers the bag, willingly letting Heidi snatch it from his grip. She sticks her tongue out at him and runs ahead down the road only a short bit. "C'mon! We hafta get back in time for Jake's match!"

"Yeah, I know that." He follows the girl back up towards the arena, the bright lights lighting up the entirety of the sky, even though the sun hadn't set yet.

* * *

Jacob walked out onto the stage yet again. The sun was still higher in the sky than normal, as to allot more time for the potential battle, as well as convenience for those attending. Nighttime was cold, and at least it was a few degrees warmer before the battle started. The Semi-finals. Jacob always imagined standing across his opponent in the final round of the tournament down to their last pokemon, but he didn't realize that he would have to get through the Semi-finals to get there.

The announcer walks out. He's different from last time. No, it's a different announcer altogether. He's taller, and he speaks into the mic with a low and booming voice. Jacob was told the cue, as was his opponent, Ben, and as soon as the first words were uttered, the two pokemon for the battle took the field.

"WELCOME CONTESTANTS TO THE SEMI-FINALS!" Ben hurls out a Clefable and his Gengar, while Jacob tosses out Metagross and Magneton. Jacob notices the irony in what might have happened if he didn't love steel-type pokemon. "BOTH COMPETITORS HAVE COME A LONG WAY, AND WE SHOULD EXPECT A VERY HEATED BATTLE!" Jacob recognizes the voice of the commentator now. He announced the matches years ago, notably when Green became the champion, then Red took it away. It was after that that the committee changed the makeup of the tournament. He was also the voice of the announcer in the video game Jacob played often: Battle Stadium. "GOOD LUCK TRAINERS, AND BEGIN!"

Realizing his mistake, Ben calls back Gengar, his strategy to Toxic would fall flat on steel types, but this gives two free hits on a defenseless Clefable. Metagross gets in close and Slams down with a harsh Hammer Arm, while a Thunderbolt emanates from Magneton and shocks the normal-type pokemon. Ben comes back, now releasing Solrock. Jacob sees the strategy now, and tries to focus his attacks on the fire-rock type, but can't because Clefable used Follow Me. The Bullet Punch aimed at Solrock is turned around and focused onto Clefable, allowing Flamethrower to deal massive amounts of damage to Metagross. Magneton tries a Sonic-boom, but it's once again re-directed because of Clefable's Follow Me. Clefable is looking weak, but a Wish makes everything better, healing a lot of the damage Clefable already took.

Jacob decides to get tricky, and hits Clefable with a Supersonic from Magneton. Ben retaliates by commanding a Heat Wave from Solrock, which damages both steel-types greatly, as they are all getting weaker by the minute. Knowing Clefable can't do anything in its confusion, Metagross Bullet Punches into Solrock, and continues spinning, building up a ton of momentum for his Meteor Mash attack. Solrock was slammed into the ground, and damaged even further when a Thunder fell from the sky and landed on top of it from Magneton. They hadn't noticed that Clefable had snapped out of confusion, and it attempted a Flamethrower of its own, hitting Magneton hard in the back. It turned around to its assailant, and rammed into Clefable with a Spark attack, not knowing that Solrock emerged from the ground and hurtled a Fire Blast straight towards the two. Knowing Metagross can't handle a fire-attack like that, Jacob commanded Magneton to flee, but Clefable grabbed onto one of the Magnemite keeping it together, and took the hit full blast.

Metagross retaliated by dashing forward and using Iron Head on Solrock, weakening it even further. Clefable was standing back up due to a Wish that it had cast while Magneton charged at it, but Magneton would not move. The referee gave Ben the first victory of the match, and Jacob had to lower his momentum before things got out of hand. Of course Snorlax would be the next pokemon on the field, and a Belly Drum to start things off was looking good. Clefable used Follow Me one more time, forcing Metagross to ram into it with its Bullet Punch attack once again, allowing another free hit from Solrock with another Flamethrower. Metagross was almost taken out of the game, but a Body Slam landing harshly on Clefable paralyzed it while also dealing massive amounts of damage.

Now that the utility was essentially taken out, Metagross and Snorlax could focus on the damage dealer, but a Hypnosis straight at Snorlax put it right to sleep. This wasn't like a Rest, where Snorlax was healed and he would be up soon, this Hypnosis could last a long time. Jacob wasn't worried though, because after being slammed by a Bullet Punch, Snorlax's Sleep Talk allowed it to follow up with a Mega Punch attack, knocking out Ben's Pokemon. Barely waiting for Ben's next pokemon to materialize, Snorlax and Metagross turned on Clefable, hoping for a double-KO, but things turned wrong when Sleep Talk turned into Earthquake. Lunatone, Ben's replacement for Solrock, was unaffected by it, but Clefable and Metagross were being hurt badly. Clefable couldn't move due to the paralysis, and Metagross' movement was being impaired as well, now zigzagging with the movement of the earth. Metagross got close enough to Clefable to smack it with its iron fist, landing a final Hammer Arm right before it careened off to the side and plowed into the ground. Metagross and Clefable were both out, and now the match was even again.

Lunatone hit the still sleeping Snorlax with a harsh Psychic attack, depleting its health further, but Jacob knew that when he woke up, he could just rest again and Sleep Talk his way to victory. Ben sent out Gengar yet again, and Jacob sent out Lairon to counter this. Gengar's poison moves would not affect the steel-type at all, and the combined ground type moves would utterly destroy it, but Lunatone would be fine in this case, for now. Snorlax's ability to Sleep Talk was running low, after another successful attempt allowed Snorlax to use Amnesia, boosting his Special Defense even more and making him even tankier than ever. Ben tried to retaliate by focusing all of his attacks on the sleeping giant, but it wasn't enough as Lairon would Metal Claw Lunatone from behind, taking it down only a few notches.

Lunatone turned and forced a Psychic attack onto Lairon, tossing it high into the sky. It was at this moment that Snorlax had decided to wake up, forcing Jacob to make a fast decision. He told Lairon to Headsmash into the ground as he came down, then dig, but that meant he couldn't give a command to the Snorlax that is now being pummeled by attacks from Gengar and Lunatone. A mixture of Psychic and Poison attacks pounded Snorlax's thick hide, and was slowly taking it down again. But now Lairon was under the ground and digging underneath the surface, waiting to pounce up at Gengar and catch it off guard. Snorlax retaliated with Rock Slide, slamming both of its opponents, Lunatone not as hard. While Gengar was distracted, Lairon jumped out of the ground and slammed its body into the purple mass. Gengar stumbled back and began hurling Shadow Balls towards his opponents. Snorlax would move in front and block every shot, not taking damage from any of it, and the next Rest would put it back to sleep, bringing it back to full health again.

At this point, Snorlax was becoming unbeatable, so Ben tried the tactic of taking out all of Jacobs pokemon alongside Snorlax, then taking down the beast last. Gengar and Lunatone focused down on Lairon, now that it was alone next to the sleeping giant. Lairon could do nothing but take on the Psychics and Focus Blasts directly, being beaten into submission without a chance at coming back, as a last Focus Blast from the nimble Gengar. Jacob recalled his pokemon, which was still gaining confidence in its new owner, and thanked him for a job well done, while Ben had to wait for his next opponent.

Jacob decided to take a bit of a risk, and threw out Venasaur, knowing his Grass was strong against Lunatone's rock, but Lunatone's Psychic was strong against his Poison. Venasaur's partner decides to wake up right there, and prepare himself with another Amnesia, while Venasaur prepared a Sunny Day. Gengar and Lunatone lashed out, with an unexpected Flamethrower from Gengar and a Psychic from Lunatone. Snorlax was able to block the fire for Venasaur, but Lunatone grabbed the Grass type and threw it across the arena. Venasaur stood back up, prepared a Growth while Snorlax used Rock Slide again, lightly tapping Lunatone while destroying Gengar. Venasaur hurtled forth a Solar Beam attack straight for Lunatone, but Gengar jumped in front and tanked it for him. The strength of the move was miscalculated, and knocked out the Gengar right there.

Ben would retaliate with another Psychic type pokemon, his Elgyem; The sun has set behind the stadium, the crowd was getting out of control, and the announcer was straining his voice to keep up with the action; Jacob and Ben were both at three pokemon each, one in the reserves. Munch was becoming more of a superpower by the second, and Jacob had no intentions of backing down.


	71. Ch 71: Jacob Vs Ben Part 2

Chapter 71. Jacob Vs. Ben (Part 2)

Snorlax started going on the offensive, Rollouting towards Elgyem at high speeds. It was able to dodge but walked right into a Solar Beam from Venasaur, timing it perfectly with the predicted dodge. Lunatone followed up with a harsh Psychic attack on Snorlax, trying to push it aside as its rollout skirted near. Venasaur hurtled Razor Leaf forward at the two opponents, slamming them down hard with the Grass Type attack. Snorlax circled around on its Rollout maneuver and headed towards Lunatone again when the worst possible outcome happened.

Lunatone hit it dead on with a Hypnosis while it was at full speed, forcing it to tumble, jump, and skid along the ground until it halted after about 30 yards. Simply from that alone Snorlax was weakened tremendously, and it wasn't going to wake up in the foreseeable future. Now that Munch was effectively taken out for a while, the Psychic types could focus down on Venasaur, but it wouldn't fall without a fight. Sunny Day was still intensifying the lights around the stadium, and Solar Beam was still extremely spamable. Venasaur backed up out of the range of the Psybeams and Psywaves and continuously hurled Solar Beams at the foes. One grazed Lunatone while another slammed hard into Elgyem, forcing it back further. Venasaur was backed into a corner while Snorlax still lie asleep on the other side of the field. Jacob was unsure if he could Sleep Talk anymore, but he attempted the command anyway.

Snorlax stood up, it hobbled over towards Elgyem, who was still reeling from the Solar Beam. Snorlax flopped down on top of it and began to glow white.

"Oh son of a-"

The Self-Destruct attack effectively ended Jacob's chance of having Snorlax survive until the end, but at least the kamikaze took out one pokemon. On the other side, Venasaur and Lunatone were still going back and forth exchanging Psybeams and Vine Whips until they both launched their final attacks at one another. As Venasaur let loose it's last Solar Beam, Lunatone lifted it off the ground with a Psychic, and threw it into the air. The green burst of light collided with the Rock pokemon as the Grass type landed on the ground with a thud, knocking out all four pokemon on the battlefield.

"THEY'RE DOWN! THEY'RE BOTH DOWN! WHO WILL THE LAST POKEMON BE?!"

Jacob thanked his buddies for a job well done as the battle came close to its conclusion. The fan (second) favorite versus the Dark horse of the tournament, and the crowd was excited to see the outcome. Jacob grabbed his black pokeball and tossed it out towards the center of the arena, across from Ben who tossed out a Net Ball. Now two pokemon stood across from each other, one extremely nimble and hard hitting, and the other a tank, ready to deal out damage after receiving some. Togekiss stared down the Starmie (obviously the most popular pokemon this tournament) as Jacob stared down Ben.

The two hesitated, unsure of how to begin the end of the battle, but that decision was left to the pokemon as Starmie started in with a Rapid Spin. Togekiss retaliated by launching a Thundershock toward it, but a narrow miss led to a Starmie pounding its body into the Normal/Flying type. The Ice Beam that ensued from the Starmie hurt Togekiss badly, but a quick Roost would bring it back to full HP again. Now back in the air, Togekiss flew up high, out of the range that Starmie's Rapid Spin could bring it, and the two began launching beams of energy at each other. A Flamethrower from one followed by an Ancientpower from the other, which quickly devolved into a battle of "who can shock who first?" Thunderbolts literally flew throughout the arena as the flying Togekiss tried to land a hit on the grounded Starmie, both skirting about their respective areas. Togekiss attempted a fly-by, landing a harsh Air Cutter as it dive-bombed past Starmie, who got in a free hit with its Bubblebeam attack.

The war of attrition raged on for what seemed like hours, but only took place within the span of a few minutes, before the stall finally broke. Jacob's Togekiss flew in too close, and was nearly hit dead on with a Blizzard attack, but quick thinking allowed a Light Screen to deflect most of the incoming damage, while Togekiss retaliated with an Aura Sphere. Alexandra won that exchange for Jacob, and now it was her time to shine. Catching Starmie mid-recover, Alexandra the Togekiss hit it hard with a Thunder, effectively nullifying its previous health regeneration. Togekiss used Ancientpower again, slamming its opponent hard with the enchanted stones, and raising all of its stats one level. The speed and attack buffs were all it needed, now that Starmie was physically slowing down. It wasn't used to this kind of long and drawn out exchange, and was losing its luster.

Alexandra took the offensive even harder, hitting the Starmie with all kinds of conflicting elemental abilities. Flamethrower followed by Ice Beam followed by Air Slash followed by Extrasensory ultimately brought Starmie to the breaking point, nearly taking it out right there. It had enough energy for another Recover, but Togekiss used Ancientpower one more time, increasing its stats even more now. Alexandra had become an unstoppable force, and Starmie knew what was coming next. A Rain Dance from Starmie would increase its chances of winning if the next combo could hit, and the beginning stages were set in motion quickly.

The rain began to drip and Togekiss was hit hard by a Bubblebeam, then seeing Starmie prepare itself for its next maneuver, Alexandra attempted the same move, both pokemon now dropping a giant bolt of lighting on top of one another. Starmie's Thunder was used in vain, as Togekiss stood strong against the Super Effective attack, while knocking out its opponent after a long and drawn-out bout. Togekiss had become victorious, sealing Jacob a spot in the finals.

The question now was, who would he face? One of his best friends, or the little girl he helped to get here in the first place?

* * *

"OH MAN BRO THAT WAS AMAAAAAAAAAZIIIIIIIING!" Cheered Heidi when Jacob finally got back to the room.

"Yeah, sorry we didn't wait for ya. It was getting freezing," Len informed Jake.

"Nah, it's fine. We got to do some walking around, it was fun." Alexandra walks into the room behind him, having already taken her coat and shoes off. "So what did you guys do here?"

"Have a debate on who will win in the next match of course," John answered.

"It's meeeee!"

"No it ain't Heidi."

"Ohohoho! That's what you think!"

The two competitors continue bickering, the television goes on about some news event, Bill is sleeping, and Len is chatting away with Mike about something. Roy exits the bathroom and lifts Heidi away from the argument, forcing her to pound on his back.

"Well this isn't exactly the reception I'd get from making it into the finals…"

"Oh don't worry about it Jake, everyone loved your battle. Even Mike was cheering loudly for you." Alex smiled up at him, now leaning on his arm.

"Heh. Well, I think I'm gonna go to sleep soon. Join me?"

Alexandra blushes, "But we-we-we shouldn't be sharing a bed w-w-with everyone else around…"

"Oh come on, just fall asleep in my arms, it'll be perfect."

She continues blushing, "But where will Heidi sleep?"

"They'll figure it out. Hell, she's always hanging on Roy, she'll probably attach herself to him." He chuckles to himself, picturing the situation.

"Well, okay." She grins and hugs herself closer to his body, to the point where he starts to blush and his heart starts to pound. "I'm gonna change into my pajamas-"

"Hehe, yeah, me too." The two split paths on their way to their drawers filled with clothes only to meet up again later in one of the many beds they've all been rotating around. Nobody seemed to notice the two entwined in each other's arms off in their own little world. It was the best night of sleep they've both had in a while.

"Look at em, so precious."

"How adorable."

"I'm gonna be sick. Ha!"

Len, Mike, and Heidi were standing over the bed where Jacob and Alexandra lie, gawking at the two lovebirds sleeping in the bed.

"But if she's in that bed then where will Heidi sleep?" Roy asks aloud, and just as predicted, Heidi jumps into the bed Roy is sitting on. "Oh no, you're sleeping on the floor."

"Hah! Yeah right!" She kicks his butt off onto the floor where he lands with a thud. "You have the floor mister." She was baiting him.

"Like hell I am!" He picks her up and tosses her across the room onto another bed, where Bill had presumably set up shop.

"No! I want that one!"

"Well this is my bed!"

"No, it's mine now!"

The others could only watch and giggle at the event before them. The two wrestled on the bed until Heidi somehow found herself underneath Roy… He was lying face up while she had her face in a pillow, his back pushing down on hers.

"Hey! I'm stuck! Fatty!"

"This is comfortable. G'night!" Roy starts to mock-snore as Heidi struggles underneath him, trying to escape.

"Geh, weehhhhh! Lemme up!" Roy continues his fake snoring while the others begin laughing. Bill was already under the covers of his bed, Mike following him into the same bed. Roy and Heidi continued to wrestle while the other four grew tired of their encounter and started to go to sleep themselves.

"Ha! It looks like we both have to sleep together."

"Forget that." Blaziken comes out of his ball. "Torchie will sleep with me. Gnight." Heidi pouted an adorable little pout as Blaziken retreated back into its ball, seeing the silly situation at hand. "Hahaha, whatever, just don't hog all the covers."

"I'll try not to…" Heidi wanted to say something else, but couldn't find the words for it.

"Good night." Roy rolled over and turned off the light on the nightstand, leaving the room in darkness.

"Good night." Roy had his back to her. She was facing it. She tugs at his shirt.

"Yeah?"

"Can you turn this way?"

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Roy rolls over and meets her face to face. "Need something?"

She forces herself into his chest. "Nope."

Roy shrugs and falls asleep, Heidi smiles and does the same.


	72. Ch 72: Heidi Vs John

Author's note: Sorry I forgot to update yesterday, guys.

Chapter 72. Heidi vs. John

Two days after Jacob's bout would be the battle to determine who goes to the finals with him: his best friend, or the little girl who followed him from the third gym and molded herself into a part of his family. Jacob and the rest sat in the seats they normally took during the tournament. He thought of several strategies he could use versus each, and determined he'd have an easier time against John, mainly because of his main type being Bug and Jacob's being Steel. Either way, the match was beginning. Heidi was standing in the trainer's box closer to the corner the gang was sitting in.

The thought-to-be-retired announcer took his spot near the center of the battlefield and introduced the trainers, Heidi's name garnering a lot more cheers than John's. The two whipped out their first pokeballs and the match was underway.

Volcarona and Starmie stood across from Blastoise and Hootie. Heidi correctly predicted the Fire/Bug type being used first, as it was John's most powerful. It started quickly, Hootie diving forward for an Aerial Ace on Volcarona, dealing some damage while it retaliated with a Heat Wave. The damage spread out across the other three pokemon, dealing only a notable amount to Noctowl. Blastoise took aim at Volcarona with a Hydro Pump, only to have it turned aside by a Hydro Pump from the other Water-type on the field, which then dove forward with a Rapid Spin attack. Hootie dodged by flying high into the air, and Blastoise took it head on, now grabbing onto its fellow Water-type. Blastoise jumped high into the air and slammed down the Starmie with a successful Seismic Toss. Volcarona could only use Quiver Dance to prepare itself for a very harsh Bug Buzz, damaging Blastoise further. Noctowl took this opportunity to prepare a very big attack of its own, glowing while it suspends itself in the sky.

Because of the distraction on the ground, John had slipped up and forgotten about Noctowl, and it was too late considering the Sky Attack slammed straight into Volcarona, which was followed up quickly by another Aerial Ace attack. Volcarona was taken down a number of notches, and could hardly move in its current state. Starmie attempted a Psychic attack on the Noctowl, and threw it across the ground at Blastoise. Blastoise dodged by slipping on water it created itself, and smoothly sliding on its feet into a puddle that slowly became the size of a very large wave. With no way to stop the Surf attack, Volcarona was quickly defeated, and Starmie took little damage.

John's next pokemon would be his first, Forretress now taking the field. As it came out of the pokeball, it prepared a layer of spikes, which sunk into the ground, ready to damage the next pokemon Heidi releases. Blastoise attempted a Blizzard attack, but the harsh snowy winds missed both competitors as Starmie prepared a Rain Dance. Heidi saw this as an advantage, not knowing what would come next. As Noctowl dove forward to try to use Hypnosis on the Forretress, a large bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck it hard, knocking it out immediately. Now that Heidi knows of the devastating effect of Thunder, she'll be more cautious about it.

Flareon was the next pokemon to be released, though in the rain it would be rendered weak, but a Thunder wouldn't deal massive damage. It was damaged slightly by the Spikes laid down earlier, but Heidi didn't think it'd be a problem. Flareon began in using flamethrower on Forretress, but Starmie got in the way and laughed it off while Forretress laid down another layer of Spikes. Blastoise took the opportunity to launch an Ice Beam attack, now that the two were in a perfect line, and struck the Starmie as it took the hit for Forretress again. This turned out to be the luckiest play of the tournament, because Starmie was frozen solid, and was locked within a block of ice from which it couldn't escape. It was still ready to fight, but being unable to move would mean it's useless now. Forretress laid out Stealth Rocks, and now that he had laid all his traps, he was ready to begin fighting. It dashed forward towards Blastoise to use Take Down, but Flareon hit it hard with a Fire Fang attack, forcing it to think otherwise. Blastoise darted forward once more and grabbed the block of ice that was Starmie, and jumped high into the air again. With no way to stop the inevitable Seismic Toss, John tried to focus on the Flareon, now unleashing an Earthquake with his Forretress. The moving earth dealt a lot of damage to the fire type, and now that the rain was subsiding, Flareon could be more effective. Blastoise slammed back down into the earth, shattering the ice around the Starmie to reveal that it was unable to fight, forcing John to switch pokemon.

John would then send out Heracross, and had to think of a new strategy fast. If he couldn't take out Blastoise, he can't fight with Typhlosion, but if he can't take out Flareon all his Bugs would be finished too. Heracross darted forward and landed a Megahorn attack on Blastoise, and Forretress followed suit by slamming into it with a Double-Edge. Blastoise was still ready to go, but it was significantly slower as it prepared its next attack. Flareon jumped onto its back as it entered a Rapid spin, knocking away all of the traps Forretress laid out earlier, and proceeded to combine Hydro Pump and Flamethrower into an extremely flashy combo of doom for John's pokemon. The huge circles of water and fire consumed both of John's pokemon, effectively ending Forretress and leaving Heracross with little health to go on. It was finished off quickly by a Fire Fang attack by the Flareon which jumped off of Blastoise's back mid-spin.

Now it was up to Typhlosion and Escavalier to finish the rest of Heidi's team, which would be an amazing feat in itself if it managed to happen. Escavalier started by using X-scissor on Blastoise, finally taking it down, while Typhlosion attempted an Eruption attack, and slammed the Flareon hard with some heat of its own. Heidi retaliated by sending out her Lucario to fight, which was the wrong decision to make. Typhlosion was much faster, and used Eruption a second time at maximum power, and nearly knocked out the steel type right there. Flareon was able to retaliate by digging underneath the earth to get a better angle on things, but that turned out to be a horrible decision as Escavalier had to sacrifice some of its partner's power to use Earthquake.

Flareon was jettisoned up from the ground and hurled 30 feet into the air while Lucario was rocked and rolled around the ground, unable to stand. Typhlosion was hurt badly by the rocking earth as well, but it was worth it if it meant finishing off Flareon. As Heidi sent out Torkoal, Lucario dashed forward, slamming Typhlosion with an Extremespeed attack, following it up with an Aura Sphere hurled at Escavalier. Typhlosion used the opportunity to destroy Lucario with a Fire Blast at close range, which did indeed finish it off. Escavalier shrugged off the Aura Sphere as the pokemon count was brought back to even. The crowd was going nuts, and it looked like John may pull of the comeback of the century, but they forgot one thing…

Torkoal now stood alongside Arcanine, both of them at full strength, while Typhlosion and Escavalier were weakened significantly. Arcanine darted forward to get close to Escavalier and slammed it with a close-range flamethrower, nearly knocking it out for good. Typhlosion retaliated by using Swift, which felt like a light tap to Arcanine, but the X-scissor from Escavalier hurt it badly, as it had scored a critical hit. Torkoal used the distraction to launch an Overheat attack in the area of the bout, where Arcanine would jump out of the way and let it slam into Typhlosion at full power, knocking it out and leaving John with a pokemon with a double weakness to fire to fight an Arcanine and a Torkoal.

It did the only thing it could, and slammed the earth with an Earthquake attack, hitting both fire-types hard, but not hard enough to not get finished off with the next Flamethrower attack by Arcanine. Heidi had defeated John in a really close nail-biter, and now Jacob had to deal with the wrath of a 13 year old girl in the next round. That same 13 year old girl who was crying in his arms back in spring in Celadon City. That same 13 year old girl who got extremely angry at him for almost hurting her Eevee. That same 13 year old girl who witnessed the death of one of her pokemon's parents, and the death of the Marowak when she was only 6 years old. The same 13 year old girl who just skipped back to the locker room after her victory, and will probably eat most of Jacob's food at dinner later.


	73. Ch 73: Jacob Vs Heidi

Sorry for the late update again. this spring break is throwing me off. lol. well here ya go.

Chapter 73. Jacob Vs. Heidi

The finals were only two days away, and of course, Jacob and Heidi were being swarmed with reporters left and right. Jacob was constantly compared to the little girl he nurtured into the trainer she is, while she was being compared to her passed on grandfather, Blaine. Everyone expected her to win, and take Blaine's place as gym leader, but Jacob continually said he wouldn't let that happen for the world. HE was determined to run the first Steel-type gym of Kanto, and would stop at nothing to reach those goals.

With that challenge came small pranks between the two during downtime. Jacob would sabotage Heidi's popcorn to explode in the microwave, while Heidi stole the toilet paper before Jacob went to the bathroom. These pranks continued to psych each other out, but it was all in good-hearted fun. Because they knew the other would want to be in peak condition for the fight, the pranks never escalated, and always stayed stupid-silly. The others got a kick out of it, and the reporters were curious about it. Heidi proudly admitted that Jacob helped her to become a great trainer, while Jacob would say things about how she taught him the _wrong_ ways to train pokemon. He didn't go into detail for fear of her image being slandered, but he used the excuse that she was still a little girl and learning how to tame her friends.

Of course, Jacob's mother had to call him and tell him to stop being so dumb on TV, to which Jacob responded with, "BUT MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Heidi's saying mean things about me!"

"NO SHE ISN'T! NOW STOP BEING AN ASS!" A laugh and a click later the reporters would ask:

"Who was that?"

"What's your mother like?"

"Does she expect you to win?" and other stupid questions of the sort. He waved them off and went back to his room.

He found his friends giggling and chuckling at the "live" broadcast of Jacob's interview, and started dying when Jacob's mother called. Heidi skipped into the room to see Jacob standing in front of her, not noticing her. She kicked him in the butt and pushed him to the side, "Move aside peasant! Make way for the next Gym Leader of Kanto!"

"Hah! Like you have a chance. You'll never get past Snorlax's thick fat!"

"Oh yeah! Well you'll never DREAM of defeating my Arcanine!" A petty argument ensued just like the past few days, and it ended with Jacob pinning her to the ground underneath his bottom.

"Weeeeehhhhhhh! Get offa me!"

"No."

"Oh Jacob, let her up."

"Make me, Roy."

"Save me Rooooooooyyyyyyyyyy."

"Actually, you look fine from here. Go about your business."

"ROY!" Jacob began laughing aloud and got off of her anyway. Heidi walked out of the room, flustered.

"So what's your strategy Jacob?" John asked.

"Start with Snorlax and Togekiss, then go from there. Snorlax has a Bellydrum-Rest-Sleeptalk/Earthquake combo that should destroy her team."

"That's if she doesn't take it out first."

"Pssh, like that'll happen."

"Hey man, I didn't expect her Flareon to deal so much damage.. Be careful."

"You got it Johnny." Jacob smirked. He had this in the bag.

* * *

It is midday when Jacob stands in his side of the area across from Heidi. The finals will be double battles, much like the last round, and the announcer from last round was still here commentating. He was extremely enthusiastic about this battle, for obvious reasons, and the stadium was packed. People were standing up in the aisles, and outside of the stadium they had to set up projectors for the people who couldn't get in to see the match. It was the biggest match of the century, purely because it was the first one of its kind. The winner would become Gym Leader of a rebuilt Cinnabar, and vie for the spot as Champion versus the Elite Four. Will, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance would be the challenge the winner of this battle would have to face, but that wasn't the current problem. Jacob had to focus on this battle and this one alone, and he couldn't wait another second.

The crowd boomed with applause and cheers, while more and more people surrounded the stadium, forcing the staff to set up boundaries and more projectors so everyone could see. Huge white sheets were hung down the outside of the arena, and projectors could clearly capture the action. Heidi's signature smile beaming from 100 foot screens around the stadium cued a massive amount of cheering from the several thousand people outside, while the 60,000 inside cheered just as loudly. Attendance was apparently pushing a record 100,000 people, but Jacob could only feel the stare of one person: his opponent.

The entire crowd grew silent. You could most literally hear a pin drop.

"BEGIN!"

"Snorlax, Togekiss, I choose you!"

"Arcanine, Blastoise! Destroy them!"

Commands flew across the field, maneuver after maneuver being dodged and executed, one after the other. Snorlax managed to Belly Drum then put itself to sleep immediately. Togekiss had to play the tank, taking a flamethrower from Arcanine head on to protect the soon-to-be powerhouse that was Snorlax. Togekiss retaliated with a Thundershock aimed at Blastoise, but the move failed to hit when it slipped around on a small wave it created. It used the miniature surf to propel itself forward and tuck its head inside its shell, preparing a Skull Bash attack. Snorlax's sleep talk became a Rollout, which darted straight towards the oncoming Water pokemon, forcing a clash the likes of which nobody has ever seen before. A full speed Rollout and a high speed Skull Bash collided in the center of the stage, causing both pokemon to fly backwards in pain. Snorlax fell flat on its back again while Blastoise tumbled onto its belly. Togekiss hurled an Aura Sphere to where Blastoise lay, but Arcanine took the hit for it, now dashing forward in an Extremespeed attack. Togekiss was its target, and was slammed into hard, forcing it to float back to the ground to Roost. Heidi saw the strategy and realized that if she couldn't take either of them out in one big combo, they would continue to heal themselves.

Heidi decided to focus down the sleeping giant, now that it had used Belly Drum, there was no way they could deal with another hit from it. Blastoise used Blizzard in hopes of dealing damage to both of Jacob's pokemon. Togekiss flew out of the way, but Snorlax was forced to take it full blast. The thick fat it had toned down the power quite a bit, but it would not be able to take four or five of those. Arcanine rushed forward and hit Snorlax hard with a Take Down attack, pushing it backwards just a bit. For its next Sleep Talk, Snorlax stood up and hurled rocks high into the air. Knowing what was coming next, Blastoise used Withdraw, but Arcanine had no way to dodge the Rock Slide. It could only weave in and out of the falling stones until a few slammed into it, forcing it to stumble to the side and get slammed with another falling boulder. It was still able to battle, but another hit like that would finish it for good. Togekiss tried to follow up with an Ancient Power on the downed Arcanine, but Blastoise wouldn't allow that, distracting Togekiss with a Hydro Pump attack across its vision. Togekiss flailed about and didn't know what to do, and hurled its attack in a random direction, missing all participants altogether. Jacob commanded Alexandra to Fly, and use long-range attacks, securing its safety.

Snorlax was just about to get up, but Arcanine and Blastoise would double up on it again, using Take Down and Skull Bash at once to take it down a few more notches before it could Rest again. Togekiss tried hitting its opponents with Air Slashes and Air Cutters from afar, but the nimble Arcanine dodged each one while Blastoise simply retreated to its shell and took the hits. Snorlax knew it didn't have long, and attempted a huge attack, using Earthquake to attack both of Heidi's pokemon. Arcanine didn't even last the duration of the attack, and was knocked out straight away, while Blastoise continued to hide in its shell until the opportunity arose. As Snorlax slammed into the ground one more time, it dashed forward with a Rapid Spin, and used Hydro Cannon at an up-close range, forcing Snorlax to bumble backwards and fall in a heap on itself. Blastoise had taken out its initial opponent, and both trainers were down one pokemon.

Both of their most powerful pokemon were the first to go, but Heidi knew what to do next. She continued the Fire/Water combo by sending out Flareon next, and Jacob had to retaliate with his Venasaur. He figured taking down the Blastoise would need to happen next, and if he could get a Leech Seed onto Flareon, he would be set. That's when Jacob got an even more brilliant idea… Or so he thought.

"Togekiss, let Venasaur use Leech Seed on you!"

It was a combo nobody had seen before, and people began wondering if he was insane, but he knew exactly was he was doing. Togekiss was seeded, and took a bit of damage each turn, but that wasn't all that was happening. Togekiss could later heal itself back to full with Roost, to make Venasaur virtually indestructible, especially if he can get a second seed onto Flareon. The next attempt at a seeding would fail as Flareon hit all the seeds with an Ember, burning them before they could touch the fire-type. From there, Togekiss prepared a Sunny Day, allowing the Venasaur with Chlorophyll to move faster along the ground. Flareon attempted to get close to use Fire Fang, but it was turned away by an Air Cutter from the distanced Togekiss. Blastoise attempted another Blizzard, but missed both targets because they were both too far away from each other and because Venasaur was too fast to be hit. A no-charge Solar Beam slammed into Blastoise, dealing massive amounts of damage, which was followed up by another Leech Seed attempt on Flareon. It could only miss again considering Flareon dove under the ground, then immediately popped out, hitting the Venasaur hard with a Dig attack, which translated into a Super Effective Fire Fang attack.

Venasaur saw the perfect opportunity, and poisoned Flareon badly with a Toxic. Now unable to get a bearing of what's going on, Flareon gave Venasaur the opportunity to finally seed it, now becoming a seemingly unstoppable force. Togekiss was forced to come down and Roost to restore the HP it had given to Venasaur, and Heidi saw the perfect opportunity. Blastoise used Blizzard on the grounded Togekiss, which was pummeled hard by the driving snow, freezing some parts of its wings. Togekiss couldn't fly now, and it was only a matter of time before Heidi finished it off. Flareon was getting weaker by the second, as was Togekiss, and Blastoise had to try to take control of the situation. The speedy Venasaur hurled Razor Leaves forward, cutting both of Heidi's pokemon and damaging the Blastoise even further. Togekiss tried Roosting again, but failed because it needed to be airborne in order to land and rest, logically. Heidi commanded Flareon to attempt a Double-Edge on Togekiss, but it was caught mid-dash by a Vine Whip and thrown to the side. It was knocked out due to the heavy poisoning and the Leech Seed, forcing Heidi to choose her next pokemon.

Clearly Hootie would be the best decision, as it flew out and Aerial Aced Togekiss, knocking it out as well. Now down two pokemon each, the finals between Heidi and Jacob were just beginning to heat up, with both trainers unwilling to back down.


	74. Ch 74: Jacob Vs Heidi Part 2

Chapter 74. Jacob Vs. Heidi Part 2.

Venasaur stood across from Blastoise and Hootie as Jacob chose his next pokemon. Venasaur was still ready to go, but Blastoise was looking weak. Jacob sent out Lairon in an attempt to make him stronger as a fighter. Lairon came out of its shell a long time ago, and now Jacob was just waiting for it to let go of its past and help Jacob to win now. Hootie dove forward towards the Venasaur, who blasted the air with Poisonpowder. Hootie dodged the burst and dove in on Lairon unexpectedly. Jacob figured she learned to dodge that from her battle with Erika, and although Lairon took little damage, it was enough. Venasaur hurled Razor Leaves forward again, forcing Blastoise to withdraw and wait out the barrage while Lairon took the initiative. Because Hootie was still flying around Lairon, a Rock Slide attack couldn't possibly miss from here. Lo and behold, Protect saves the day, and Hootie retreats backwards.

Venasaur continued the long-range assault, still launching Solar Beam after Solar Beam at his opponents. Lairon darted forward to slam Hootie with an Iron Head, but Blastoise would come in to take the hit, after deflecting the Steel-type attack, a Solarbeam struck the Water-type head on, finally taking it down.

Heidi saw that Torkoal would be the best option, and threw him out of his pokeball. With the heat still coming in from Sunny Day, Heidi chose using Fire Blast towards her two enemies. They both dodge gracefully, and transitioned into another combo move. Lairon rushed forward to use Iron Claw, and when Hootie flew out of the way to dodge, it would get smacked with a Solar Beam. It retaliated by using Psychic on Venasaur from long-range, but the effect was too weak due to the distance. Hootie flew up high, then Torkoal used flamethrower at the ground at Lairon's feet. Lairon jumped backwards, only narrowly avoiding the flames, and darted back towards the Torkoal. A successful Iron Head led to Hootie taking advantage of the gap, and darting downwards into a dive bomb. The Aerial Ace hit Venasaur hard, and now that Hootie was close up, a Psychic attack would throw Venasaur back towards the middle of the arena, doing even more damage. Torkoal saw what was happening and understood, now hurtling an Overheat attack at both Venasaur and Lairon. It narrowly missed, but Hootie, who was behind them, redirected it back to the two of them, slamming Lairon in the back. It was almost over right there, but Lairon had other plans.

Lairon darted forward, faster than it had before, and used Take Down on Torkoal, taking it down a few notches. It combo'd that move into a Giga Impact, which would nearly take down the Fire-type it was fighting. After unleashing a Heat Wave attack onto the whole battlefield, Heidi thought Lairon would be finished, but she was wrong. Lairon burrowed underground while Venasaur and Hootie took the attack full force. Heidi tried to get clever, and commanded Torkoal to use earthquake, but it was in vain. The figure dashed forth from the ground and slammed into Torkoal, seemingly bouncing off the air to use Take Down once more. Aggron stood up over the Torkoal and unleashed a Hyper Beam straight to its torso, and unleashing an unearthly growl into the sky. Jacob smirked, Heidi smiled, and the battle was still far from over.

While Heidi made the switch, Hootie used Sky Attack once more on Venasaur, following it up with a Psybeam, which forced Jacob to switch as well. A fair trade, Jacob thought. He was still up by one pokemon, leaving Heidi with no more fire-types. Though it would be the battle of the Steel-types now, as Metagross and Lucario made their way onto the stage. Aggron was very weak, and Hootie healed itself with a Roost, to which Metagross needed to counter. Aggron attempted a Rock Slide, hitting Noctowl hard, while Lucario jumped and dodged every boulder. It attempted to get in close for a Close Combat, but was turned away by a Hammer Arm to the chest from Metagross. Lucario dashed forward again, using Noctowl's Tailwind to move faster, and nailed Metagross with a Drain Punch. Hootie Roosted once more, fully healing it, and dashed forward again, using Psychic on Aggron. It couldn't handle the move and fell in a heap, letting Lucario use Aura Sphere in the confusion, and nailing Metagross with it. Jacob was still confident he was in control, but it was slowly slipping away.

Jacob couldn't decide which to sent out, considering both were weak against Lucario, but he decided Magneton would be the best decision, to take out Noctowl faster. As soon as the Magneton was released, action moved fast. Lucario used Extremespeed to get in close and use Close Combat, immediately slowing down Magneton, who retaliated with a close-range Thunder. While being knocked back, Metagross slammed him even harder, smacking it with another Hammer Arm. Metagross followed it up with Agility, while Noctowl used long-range Air Cutters to whittle away at the two Steel Types. The crowd around the stadium steadily grew larger, and both trainers could feel the heat.

Metagross would dart forward again, trying to land a Bullet Punch on the speedy Lucario. A glancing blow leads to a perfectly timed Thundershock from Magneton, who follows it up with using Lock-on on Hootie. Metagross pounded at Lucario with a Meteor Mash, who used Counter and dealt back double the damage, letting Metagross know who's boss. Magneton finally launched its Zap Cannon, which rose with Noctowl as it tried to fly away. It zipped around the air, with a giant yellow ball of electricity following close behind. Hootie's eyes would glow purple for a split second, right before the electricity engulfed it, and took it out of the competition. Lucario was alone standing across from two of its Steel-type counterparts, and it was not ready to back down just yet.

Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at Metagross, then darted in towards it, comboing a Drain Punch on top of it. Metagross threw it using Psychic, which led to another direct hit with Thunderbolt. Lucario attempted a Close Combat, but missed and had to retreat backwards. It hurtled forth another Aura Sphere towards Metagross, which took the hit full-on. It wouldn't be able to stand much more punishment, when IT hit.

A purple aura engulfed Metagross and Magneton both, pulling them closer together and damaging them equally. Hootie's last Future Sight attack worked well in the combo to end the battle, giving Lucario the ability to dash in close and land a Drain Punch on top of a Close Combat, followed up by an Aura Sphere, with another Close Combat following, eventually leaving both of Jacob's pokemon to hardly stand their own ground. Metagross was ready to collapse under its own weight while Magneton was struggling to float upwards. Lucario threw one last Aura Sphere and pushed it forward at tremendous speed, using Hyper Beam to propel it faster than anyone could blink at Jacob's pokemon. Metagross couldn't use Protect in time, and fell in defeat alongside Magneton. Lucario wiped the sweat off of its forehead as the stadium and surrounding area exploded with excitement.

Jacob could only laugh and bow his head in defeat as the small figure ran across the battlefield towards him.

"HA! I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON!" Heidi jumped up onto Jacob's back after he turned to walk away.

"Get off of me you wierdo!" Jacob's words were drowned out as reporters and fans of all kinds rushed down onto the field to try to get a word from either of them. The two were being jostled around and grabbed by different people, being torn in different directions. The chaos was unbearable until a Porygon Z floated by alongside a Scyther. Scyther pushed people aside and landed next to Jacob, urging him to jump on. He followed suit to see Heidi on the… back… side… whatever part of the Porygon Z, now floating in the same direction Scyther took him. The crowd chased the two until they reached the wall where their pursuers would be cut off, and where their friends waited for them. The two landed gently, the pokemon were returned, and Heidi was the first to speak:

"So what'r we gonna eat?"


	75. Ch 75: Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 75. Calm Before the Storm

"You do realize you'll be a Gym Leader now… right?" Roy commented towards Heidi across the table. The group found a nice restaurant by the hotel they are staying at. The owner insisted that they could order whatever they desired, and it would all be free. He claimed that it was for the soon-to-be champion of the Kanto region, but nobody paid any mind, they just appreciated the free food.

"Well duh. I'm gonna use all of grandpa's pokemon and be the toughest Gym Leader ever!"

"Heh, yeah, but first you gotta battle the Elite Four, that'll be a fun challenge…" Jacob trailed off in a depressing manner.

John punched him in the arm, "Oh shut up, you did well in the battle, you'll win next year's tournament, considering Heidi won't be in it!"

"Hey!" Len shouted across the table, "I'm gonna be a force to be reckoned with as well! I'm gonna get much stronger!"

"Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, hey, none of you will be able to hold a candle to me," Roy smugly commented.

The window next to the booth pounded again, the faces of reporters still bothering them at their meal. Heidi raised the shade, stuck her tongue out, and lowered it again. The owner wouldn't let any of them inside so they could enjoy their meal. The argument over who would win next year continued while Alexandra had to comfort an upset Jacob. Bill's eccentricity led to a more animated argument, which led to fake fist-fighting and wrestling, to which John and Len fell to the floor and rolled around for a bit. A snobby waitress came by and said, "HEY, just because you won doesn't mean you can mess up our restaurant!"

"Sorry…" Len earned a smack upside the head from his sister and his girlfriend who had just returned from the bathroom.

"My goodness, I'm gone for 5 minutes and you're already causing trouble!"

"Heh, sorry Kelly…" The others grew more silent, forcing Mike to speak up again.

"So.. don't tell me I'm the only one thinking this… but isn't it odd that Team Rocket hasn't tried anything during the tournament?" This led the table to think.

"Now that you mention it…" Heidi started, "You'd think they should have done something… I wonder…"

"Well, the last time we saw them was in Mt. Moon, and that's where I caught my Pupatar."

"Ever since then there hasn't really been any reported cases of Rocket mischief. I wonder if they're up to something…" Mike pondered this a little longer.

"I dunno, but if they aren't doing anything now then maybe they finished part of their plan?" Jacob was questioning his own comment.

"It really is weird if you really think about it. A big tournament, many powerful pokemon, we're simply here for the picking. What gives?" Mike's question to the table doesn't go unanswered:

"Simple, they're afraid of the Elite Four." John frankly answered.

"Wait," Jacob said, "I just had another thought. Heidi, remember when we infiltrated the Team Rocket HQ and met that guy… uh… ROB, that's it; anyway, don't you think that if they were watching this then they'd recognize us from then, and target our families as their next victims?" Heidi grew a sullen look.

Mike's rebuttal calmed her down though, "Considering both of you come from families who have Gym Leaders with you, they would most definitely be afraid of those extremely powerful pokemon. Plus Heidi's family is virtually untraceable even though Cinnabar is starting to be rebuilt."

"Hmm, true-"

"Wait, when did you go into a Rocket Base!?" Alexandra's tone was extremely concerned.

"A while ago, don't worry about it, we learned a bunch about what Team Rocket was doing… though with plans that big it's a surprise that they aren't still noticeably moving."

"Maybe," Len took his turn to speak, "Phase one is complete." The rest of the table grew silent, waiting for his explanation. "They already have all the DNA of the pokemon they were looking for, and they found the fossil of that Legendary pokemon they were looking for… That's why they were at Mt. Moon!"

"Yeah, but even if phase one is complete, from what Robbie told us it would take a long, long time to complete the plans…" Jacob held his head in a sophisticated-looking manner while thinking about the situation.

Nobody could come up with a solid reason as to why Team Rocket hasn't done anything yet, but that's when Mike got the idea to go back to his old room and look through files that may have gone through while they were here. He has neglected to go back at all for a while, and could come back within a day with any news. He teleported right after finishing his meal and left in a purple flash with his Alakazam, to leave the rest to their meals and a new discussion.

"So how do you think you'll do against the Elite Four, Heidi?" Roy asked as if he knew the answer.

"I'm gonna whup 'em!"

"Shoulda guessed." The conversation at the table became more animated once again as the eight of them finished up their dinner and continued talking for the next few hours very animatedly. Once they attempted to leave the restaurant, fans and reporters were still waiting for them as to harass the winner and loser about what they felt and such nonsense. The owner threatened to call the cops and have them all arrested for trespassing, to which they moved off the property, but still waited in the middle of the road. A limo pulled up, honking and beeping at the wierdoes in the road to move aside, with Mike poking his head out of the sunroof. He waved them onwards to which they all hopped in and drove down the road towards their hotel.

"Where did you get a limo?"

"I did mention that I'm kinda loaded, right?"

"Ehhh… well, what did you find out?"

"Nothing too big. They found the fossil they were looking for, and apparently have a lot of DNA from pokemon around the globe. Apparently even more have been recently discovered, but they don't need to find those for their plan."

"Wait, MORE species?!"

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it too, but apparently there's even been a new Evolution for Eevee."

"Well isn't that something." Jacob's back and forth with Mike would continue all the way back to the hotel, which is taking much longer than expected.

"Yeah, Sylveon is its name. Anyway, that doesn't really matter… or it kinda does, but, ANYWAY, a few new pokemon have been discovered and Team Rocket doesn't need their DNA because they didn't calculate it into their equations. The point is, they are getting close to finishing Phase 1, and there isn't anything we can do to stop it. Phase 2 is fully on Prof. Birch to complete, which they don't know how long it will take, but I know that there will be extra security at the Celadon base so you guys won't be able to go in guns ablaze again. Phase three is them unleashing their creation unto the world, and use it to destroy most of Kanto and make it their lawless playground. I think that we can stop that ultimate pokemon if we pull all the Gym Leaders together and take it head on."

"It might work, but," John started, "what if Birch can't complete Phase 2? Or it can't be completed for a long time?"

"They calculated how long it should take. A Maximum of 4 years, a minimum of 9 months."

"You forget," Bill chimed in, "That smart Bill and Antonio are working on a Master Snag Ball, so if we get that before they complete their plan, then we'll be set. But we just don't know how long that'll take."

"I can ask them tomorrow. Alakazam is tired, and needs a break."

"Yeah sure." The conversation dies down as the limo approaches the hotel.

"So when do you battle Will, Heidi?"

"Dunno. Probably a few days."

"We'll figure it out." Mike patted her on the head, looking down on the adorable little girl, who in a time of near-crisis has become the youngest Gym Leader in history.

"Just remember, it might not happen for a long time, so enjoy every day to the max." Mike leapt out of the limo and led the other eight into the hotel. He didn't want anyone to see the look of concern on his face.


	76. Ch 76: Heidi Vs The Elite Four

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't posted for a few weeks, I've had really terrible writer's block for the past two weeks and have been stuck on this chapter for FOREVER. I'll try to make future chapters better, but for now, this will suffice, eh?

Chapter 76. Heidi vs. The Elite Four

The few days between Heidi's matches with the Elite Four were hectic. Jacob and Heidi could hardly leave their room with all of the reporters still running about looking for comments of the battle. So much so that Mike had spent some money to hire security guards just so they could leave and get some food. It was extremely obnoxious, but they died down the day of Heidi's next match, for which she got no practice for. She wasn't panicking though, she won the prize she wanted most, and that was to replace her grandfather as Gym Leader.

Her match started in the afternoon, before it they had a small award ceremony. Giving Jacob a small silver medal, and Heidi a golden medal with a certificate stating that she is now the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island. She proclaimed to the world that she would be a Fire-type gym leader, just like her grandpa, and that she would use not only her own Fire-types, but also the ones her grandfather left behind after his death. This gave future trainers grief as Jacob could essentially hear a collective gasp from the world saying, "She'll be unbeatable if she can use all those powerful pokemon!"

Jacob retreaded back to his seat in between Len and Alexandra, and Heidi prepared herself for her Elite Four Challenge. It would be four 1v1 fights in succession, the order being Will, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance. The format of the battle changes from year to year, sometimes 3v3's with matches daily. It was 3 years ago that they used this format, where the challenger failed after losing badly to Bruno. Apparently it was the toughest of all the challenges, and it was because the Elite Four Members could use any of their pokemon. Dual Types would screw up plans and leave the Challenger defeated, and they discussed that this would be the best challenge for Heidi.

Will made an entrance, teleporting in with his Alakazam, which he wouldn't be using in this fight. He flipped his purple hair back and whipped out his first pokemon, Heidi doing the same. Flareon sat down across from an Espeon, both of them barking towards each other. The announcer signaled the beginning of the battle, and the two Eeveelutions went into action immediately. Flamethrower was deflected by Psybeam. Psywave was dodged in a Dig maneuver. Flareon popped up and used Bite on Espeon, using its physical prowess to overcome Espeon's intelligence-based powers. Flareon was pushed off with a Psychic, and was slammed hard into the ground. Espeon began channeling another attack, but Flareon disrupted it by hurling sand into its opponent's face, distracting the Espeon. Flareon darted forward with a Take-Down attack and slammed into Espeon hard.

The wish from before was answered, and Espeon was nearly fully healed. Heidi retaliated by using Flamethrower once more, slamming Espeon hard and burning it slightly. Flareon would get close once again and use Sand Attack once more to annoy Espeon and break its concentration. It couldn't get off another Psychic attack because of the dirt in its eyes, which allowed Flareon to clench its claws on Espeon's body, and successfully use Fire Fang. Espeon pushed it off by slapping at it with its tail and paws, and continued to attempt Psychic. It couldn't see, and could hardly move without bumping into its opponent and getting burned from the heat. It tried to use Wish once more, but would only get knocked out before healing, courtesy of another Fire Fang attack. Will accepted defeat and disappeared in another purple flash, leading Heidi to recall her Flareon.

Bruno would be the next opponent, and his entrance would be much more dramatic than Will's. Steelix burst out of the ground and roared into the air, Bruno jumping off the top of its head and landing on his bare feet. No time for mental preparation as he hurled out a pokeball, Heidi following suit. Lucario and Hitmonchan stood across from one another, cueing the fight of Fighting Types to begin.

Simultaneous Close Combats from both pokemon knocked aside the other's attempt to get a punch in, fists colliding in air, being pulled back, only to collide once more. Lucario ducked down and sent a Force Palm straight into Hitmonchan's chest, knocking it back a few feet. Hitmonchan would retaliate by sending in a Mach Punch to Lucario's chest, who retaliated with a Counter attack. The two whittled away at each other with flying fists until Hitmonchan was forced out of the fight, backing up a few steps to catch its breath. Lucario did the same, but used long-range tactics now: Hurling an Aura Sphere at Hitmonchan. Hitmonchan launched its fist forward and sent the Sphere right back, forcing Lucario to punch it straight back. The speed increased with each punch, sending the Sphere of energy back and forth at faster and faster rates, until Hitmonchan had to give up and sent it skyward with a Sky Uppercut attack.

Lucario dashed forward, seeing the opportunity, and slammed into it with an Extremespeed attack. Hitmonchan reeled backwards, letting Lucario get closer and slam it with a Close Combat again. Hitmonchan flew backwards and landed flat on its back. It got up slowly, but took its stance once more. Lucario took the initiative and went in for a Bullet Punch, Hitmonchan doing the same thing. Fists collided once more, making for a war of attrition between the two Fighting Types. Hitmonchan would be the first to give in, considering it is much weaker, and jumped backwards. While airborne, Lucario used Extremespeed to jump straight into it, and landed another Force Palm, this time on its face. Hitmonchan was slammed into the ground and was rendered unconscious. Heidi was halfway there, and was on a roll now.

Bruno nodded, returned Hitmonchan, and retreated back into the earth on his Steelix, leaving Heidi alone once again. Not for long, however, as Agatha appeared from thin air with her Gengar beside her. It stuck out its tongue and muttered something in its pokemon language before Agatha released her pokemon. Arbok would be the one to slither onto the stage and take a frightening position across from Heidi, who would throw out her pokeball containing Blastoise.

* * *

A few days earlier.

* * *

A man sits at the bar in Viridian City, watching the tournament on the televisions like the rest of the people there. He has a long trench coat, and a cowboy hat, both brown, with long dark hair to his shoulders. He twirls a pokeball on his finger while sipping rum as he looks up to the TV. It's the final round, and people are cheering for the little girl and her older opponent all around the bar. There's a betting pool starting up, along with the battle. The little girl tossed out Arcanine and Blastoise, while the boy threw out Snorlax and Togekiss. The crowd in the bar started cheering. Bets were being made: The more specific, the more you won.

"I got the girl winning 2:1 odds! Her opponent is at 5:1! Make your bets!"

"Put me down for 300 on the boy!"

"I got the girl winning it 6-4!" He'd win an extra 100 pokeyen if he got it right.

"Put me down for a complete blowout! 40 on the boy to win 6-0!" Those odds were easily 1000:1

The man at the bar stands up, putting his pokeball back in his pocket. He walks over the the bartender keeping track of bets, taking one last look at the screen. The two competitor's teams are shown up on the television, and that's when he speaks up. "Put me down for 1000. The girl wins, her Lucario is her last pokemon standing. It overcomes a 2v1 against Metagross and Magneton."

"HAHAHAH WHAT'S THAT SONNY?"

"1000 PY, on the girl. Her Lucario wins as her last pokemon in a 2v1 against Metagross and Magneton."

"HAHAHA YOU GOTTA BE CRAZY TO PLACE A BET LIKE THAT!"

The man's gruff voice is growing more agitated, "What are my goddamn odds?"

"Well with a scenario like that, it's easily twenty- no, thirty thousand to one!" The man did the math himself in his head. Exactly, it was 1460 to one, but he didn't want to correct his exaggeration. someone would do it correctly

"I'll take those odds." He silently sits back down on his stool as the bartender laughs off his bet. He figures he just got an extra 1000 money.

The match progresses. The man who bet on the boy to win 6-0 loses easily, and simply laughs it away while ordering another drink. Other people groan with disappointment as their bets fall flat, and others cheer as they get closer and closer to winning theirs. Venasaur and Noctowl are going back and forth, while Aggron and Torkoal were duking it out. Venasaur fell, people cheered, Torkoal was down as well, and the man smiled. The four pokemon down on the field were Lucario, Metagross, Noctowl, and Agrron, the boy's last pokemon being Magneton. Aggron fainted, some men groaned while others cheered for their bets. Magneton takes the stage, and the bartender realizes what's happening.

He does the math, and comes out with the same odds the man in the trench coat finds. Noctowl goes down. People who bet on the boy are excited, and very happy, while those who bet on the girl are cowering in their seats. The man continues to sip his rum and chuckle. Everyone's attention is on the television. A flash of purple light. Future sight lands. Lucario dashes in. a great combo, what's this? The boy's pokemon go down at the same time, a 2v1 victory for the girl. The people are cheering, the one man continues to chuckle. He stands up and walks over to the bartender taking bets.

"I believe you owe me 1,460,000 PY."

"B-b-but-"

"If it's a problem I can just alert the authorities that you can't afford to cover your bill from this illegal gambling."

"N-no, it isn't a problem. Let me just, uh, check with the other guys." While other people were collecting their winnings, he stood patiently, waiting for the discussion to end. "W-we're sorry sir, but we don't have the funds to pay you all… that… money….."

"How much do you have?"

"Not even nearly half the amount!"

"That's okay, you can pay me back over time. But then that will come with interest." He smiles and takes the 500,000 he's handed. "Hah! Don't worry, this is more than enough for what I need." He walks outside, and tosses his pokeball into the air, a golden Pidgeot landing gracefully on the ground. "Let's go!" The Pidgeot lifts off the ground and dashes through the sky at high speeds, the man riding as if he has a new mission with his newfound wealth.


	77. Ch 77: Heidi Vs The Elite Four Part 2

Chapter 77

Heidi Vs. The Elite Four 2

A golden Pidgeot lands gently in front of a cottage in the woods. It wasn't a long flight from Viridian City, and the man who made a lot of money today strolled through the front door, banging it open, and slamming it shut. Pidgeot flew back up into the sky and would later perch itself on a tree outside the house. The inside of the cabin was one large room, an Beartik pelt rug in front of a fireplace, Stantler horns on the wall, and a Pink Furret scurrying around the man's legs.

"Calm down there buddy, I just made a killing, and you know what that means, right?" The Furret giggled and cheered gleefully, knowing that "Making a Killing" means good food for a long time, and maybe even a bigger home. Heads were hung on the wall of very vicious pokemon, such as Fearow, and Nidoking, some decorations made of bones and horns hung on the wall and were placed on the tables. Chairs, tables, and other furniture made of wood and cloth populated the room. He hung his trench coat on a coat rack made of wood, revealing a long-sleeved shirt that hugs his body tightly enough to reveal his tremendous muscles. He hangs his hat on a higher hook, revealing more of his long, brown hair. He turns, stroking his beard, to the refrigerator in his "kitchen" area, and pulls out some ingredients. He readies the stove when the power surges a bit.

"Crap. Hey bud, I'm gonna go check the generator." The Furret purrs silently while he makes his way downstairs, into the basement made with stone walls. There are boxes of things everywhere, just various objects from his travels, several maps, charts of the oceans, and near the back, with many wires coming out, a burning out generator. "Craaap." He proceeds the arduous process of unplugging everything and plugging everything into a different generator, knowing the first one is now busted. It gave him problems for a few months, but now it'll definitely need to be replaced. "Ah well…" He fixes the problem and continues back upstairs. And turns on the radio while he makes the meal he began earlier.

The radio reveals nothing he didn't already know about the world, so he turns on a music channel, which perks the Furret's ears up. It begins dancing in place along to the song until a small bowl is set out on the table for it, to which it jumps on immediately.

"_This is definitely better than last time!"_

"Probably cuz the ingredients are fresher."

_"Delicious!.. So how much did you make today?"_

"A lot, don't worry. It's more than enough for another excursion to the desert, and possibly an adventure to the Orange Islands."

_"I've always loved the desert. That's where we met Flygon!"_

"Haha yes, it is. I know how you two get along. Where has she been?"

_"Flyin' around. Probably with Pidgeot by now."_

"Ah, yeah, true. They're probably off hunting together again." He finishes his bowl of soup and tosses it in the sink for later.

_"I've always wondered how you can wear such thick clothes in the summer like this…"_

"I've always wondered how pokemon can have such thick fur in the summer like this."

_"Touche, good sir." _Furret giggles.

"It's just been my style, you know.

_"Oh, I know." _Furret finishes lapping up his soup, leaving the man to pick it up and toss it into the sink as well. The radio continues to play songs on the other side of the room while he turns on the television, a drama coming on.

_"Oh I love this show, can we watch it please!?"_

"Hah, I have no objections. You're the only one that actually likes this junk though." They sit watching the television for the rest of the night, as the sun goes down in the distance. The man plans his next trip with his Pink Furret; knowing they will be away for a while, he'll have to take all his pokemon with him.

* * *

Arbok slithered quickly towards the Blastoise, catching it off guard for a Poison Fang attack. Blastoise reeled back and prepared itself, launching a Hydro Pump attack at the snake-like pokemon. It slithers out of the blasts of water and burrows underground, prompting Blastoise to do the same. Several seconds later, Arbok bursts through the ground propelled by a torrent of water, leaving it to fly up then fall back down to the earth. Blastoise darted out towards the falling Arbok, slamming into it in midair with a Take Down attack.

Arbok fell with a thud, but was able to stand back up before quickly sliding around on the ground again. It got in close towards the Blastoise that just landed, and violently wrapped itself around the water-pokemon, crushing whatever it could squeeze. Blastoise didn't like that, and grabbed a hold of its opponent, then brought the part he was holding up to his mouth and used Crunch as hard as it could. Arbok writhed around and released its grip, while Blastoise would not, preparing its cannon to fire directly at Arbok's face. It growled menacingly before unleashing a large torrent of water upon the Poison-type pokemon, the force tearing it from Blastoise's mouth and forcing it to tumble across the stadium. It lay limp and unmoving, finished from the battle, bleeding out from where the Blastoise had bitten it. Agatha had returned her pokemon and disappeared with her Gengar, presumably to heal her fallen friend.

The crowd grew wilder, happier, and more intense as the little girl came closer and closer to being not only the new champion of Kanto, but also the youngest one since Red. Her final opponent would be Lance, the Dragon Master, and she knew she'd have to go all out against her final opponent. As she returned Blastoise, a thunderous roar emanated throughout the stadium. The figure flying overhead hurled itself into a straight dive-bomb, pulling up right as it would have slammed into the ground. The figure flew circles around the stadium before anyone knew what was going on, and the Dragonite landed gently on the ground, purring as Lance hopped off the back.

"So, you're the one making a huge splash in my tournament."

"You shouldn't underestimate a little girl, you know!"

"I don't see trainers as boys, girls, or classify them by their age. I know you're the best trainer I have witnessed battling in a long time, and I had no thoughts about taking it easy on you."

"Good, this'll make my win much more interesting then!"

"Don't get cocky, Heidi." Lance commanded his Dragonite to take center stage, and oppose Heidi. "Who will you choose?"

"I'm sure you already knew that." Heidi whips out her pokeball, Arcanine standing across from Lance's pokemon.

"Of course, Blaine's Arcanine. Surely your command of it is superb, but I would have much rather battled one of your own pokemon, a pokemon you've trained since the beginning."

"Just because he isn't mine doesn't mean I don't love him just as much!" Heidi shouted, "He was my grandpa's, and he took good care of all his pokemon! I knew Arcanine for a long time too, and just because I didn't train him doesn't make me a bad pokemon trainer!"

"No, it doesn't. Commanding such a powerful and legendary creature requires a vast amount of respect for the owner, and a good amount of discipline from the trainer. The fact that he was traded to you and still respected your command says a lot about your character." Arcanine growls and barks, while Dragonite gently roars back at it. "You're a great trainer, Heidi, and the fact that you're here right now proves it. Try to give me your best shot and I'll be sure to give you mine."

"Sounds good to me!" Arcanine went into action, using Agility to greatly increase its speed. It ran circles around Dragonite in a demonstration of superiority, but Dragonite stood calmly.

"EXTREMESPEED!" Catching Arcanine off guard, Dragonite seemed to teleport to the spot where Arcanine was, and slammed into it at mach speeds, sending it flying into the stadium wall outside of the battle area. It jumped back in, and dashed forward to land a Fire Fang attack. Dragonite took the bite full on the Arm, and Mega Punched it in the jaw with its free hand. Sending Arcanine back again. He decided to stick to long range, hurling Flamethrower at the Dragonite, who flew up and out of the way, sending down a Thundershock of its own. Arcanine jumped and skipped away from the bolts of electricity and sent a Fire Blast flying straight towards the Dragonite. It dove away from the fire and hurled itself down into the ground, landing a hard Slam attack straight into Arca+n

ine's back.

Arcanine tumbled away, to which Dragonite hurled a Draco Meteor attack at it, slamming the Fire-type hard with giant chunks of rocks infused with Dragon power. Arcanine could hardly stand, when Heidi commanded it to use Extremespeed. Lance couldn't shout out his rebuttal in time and Dragonite had to pay, being hit hard and sent flying backwards. Arcanine leapt forward and sunk its teeth into Dragonite's arm, burning it harshly with a Fire Fang attack, then jumped backwards, preparing itself for what could come next. Knowing it couldn't withstand another attack, Lance coerced Heidi into a challenge she couldn't refuse, but would also lose.

"EXTREMESPEED!" "EXTREMESPEED!"

The two clashed together violently.

"FIRE BLAST!" "FIRE BLAST!"

The two eruptions of fire collided, exploding in the middle of the arena.

"DRAGON RUSH!" "PROTECT!"

Arcanine defended itself for what little it could preseve.

"EXTREMESPEED!" "EXTREMESPEED!"

Arcanine was hit hard, as well as the Dragonite, but Lance's pokemon was much healthier than Heidi's. Lance gave a final command, to which Heidi accepted her final challenge of the tournament.

"HYPER BEAM!" "HYPER BEAM!"

Two ferocious beams of yellow-purple light clashed in the center of the arena again. Arcanine tried to stand behind it as best as possible, but slowly, Dragonite overpowered it a little more. Second by second, the center of impact came closer and closer to Arcanine's side, the light showing the fear in Arcanine's face. Dragonite pushed the beam forward, which eventually engulfed Arcanine, and sent it flying in an explosion right to Heidi's feet.

She could only look down in sadness, not because of her loss, but because of how hurt she let her Arcanine get. She tuned out the sound of the crowd in the background cheering or booing or whatever they were doing, and laid her hands on Arcanine's body. The referee called the match in Lance's favor, and her road to success was finally over.

Lance walked across the stage, letting his Dragonite sit and rest for a bit, and held his hand out to Heidi.

"That was a great battle. You're a very good trainer, and one of the best I've ever come across." She couldn't take the compliment. She was still looking down at Arcanine. Lance pulled his hand away and kneeled down next to her. "You're young, and you still have years of battling ahead of you. So come on, stand up, Gym Leader Heidi." She returned Arcanine to his pokeball and started to cry, Lance accepting her into his arms as temporary comfort. "Come on now," He lifted her up to stand and held her hand as they both walked towards the doors from which she entered, surely a slew of reporters waiting for her and him. He decided against it and brought her back towards his Dragonite.

"W-what are you doing?" Heidi just finished crying as the caped figure dragged her around.

"Ever rode on a Dragonite? It's a wonderful experience." She shook her head. "Where are your friends sitting?" She pointed to the group of 7 waiting for her in the corner of the stadium. "Alright, this won't take long then." He called up to his friend, who lowered his back enough to let the two on. They climbed up, Lance saying "Hold on tight," before they took off. Dragonite smoothly jumped and glided into the sky, going faster with every beat of its wing. The air whipping around their heads caused Lance's cape to still billow underneath Heidi, who wouldn't let her arms unwrap from around his waist. They sped faster and faster through the air, tears building up in the corner of both of their eyes as they circled higher and higher into the air, until they reached the clouds. A sea of white wetness surrounded them, every angle was white and blue, she couldn't tell which direction was up.

Dragonite slowed to a glide, allowing Heidi and Lance to talk for a brief moment. "How is it? Is it fun?"

"I love it! I wanna fly around like this all the time!"

"Haha, well it takes a certain skill; I've been around Dragon types for almost 30 years now, and it's taken me almost half that amount to successfully fly one." The two look around, Dragonite ascending past the cloud line so that everything below was white, nothing but blue sky and yellow sun above them. "You may not be champion of Kanto, but you are something that takes a great amount of skill to become: A Gym Leader. Normally when one retires, we have to hold some sort of boring competition followed by a questionnaire and personality blah blah blah I never really liked the process, but Agatha always made sure that it happened. This time, however, I convinced the other three to make the winner of this tournament Gym Leader, because I knew that for someone to win in the finals alone, it took a great amount of strength and bonding with their pokemon. You, Heidi, have one of the strongest bonds to your pokemon I've ever seen, and your command of them is almost on par with mine!" Lance laughed aloud as Dragonite continued to circle around in the air.

"This part of your journey is over, and a whole new one is just about to begin for you."

"No, you're wrong. There's still something I need to do." Lance shook his head, as they began their slow descent through the clouds and back down into the lower part of the sky.

"Being a Gym Leader will be a tough job, it's very stressful. Make sure to take good care of all of your pokemon and take a few days off every now and then."

"Oh! Will I be able to use non-fire types if I'm a Fire-type Gym Leader?" She knew she wants to use Hootie or Lucario in the future as well as Flareon and the rest.

"Well, Brock uses Vulpix and Crobat sparingly, so you using a different type once in a while shouldn't be a problem."

Heidi smiled as the descent slowed and the gentle landing finished their flight, Lance landing next to where Jacob and the rest were waiting. They all congratulated her on a job well done, and all gave her a hug or some sort of pat on the back.

"Alright guys," Jacob said aloud, "Let's go home."


	78. Ch 78: As the Year Goes By

Author's Note: The first "half" of the Journey is over, and the next one is about to begin. Thank you for reading this far into the story, and I very much appreciate your commitment to reading. If you liked the first half I promise you that the second one will not disappoint. I'd suggest re-reading the first 60 or so chapters again to remember those little details that you may have missed; have fun, and thanks again for reading this far!

Chapter 78. As the year goes by.

Packing up was easy for the group. Not much was brought, save a few changes of clothes, and most of the luggage was just that. The walk back to Celadon City would be a fun adventure in itself, while from there everyone would probably split off and go their separate ways. Heidi would have a lot to do as the Gym Leader of Cinnabar, as soon as it's rebuilt, and would most likely live with her parents there. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that she would stay in contact with the rest of them, but it would be different, to live without her.

They left the hotel, paid their bill, partly with their winnings, and partly with Mike's money, and began walking away from Indigo Plateau back towards Viridian, and from there to Pallet town, where boats would take them to Vermillion.

They day they all reached Vermillion City, was the day they decided to part. But, not for too long. Mike invited Roy and a few of the others to stay at his place for the time being, considering there was still work that needed to be done. Roy accepted the offer, leaving in a purple flash alongside Mike, but not before patting Heidi on the head, giving her a hug, and his cell phone number. Heidi would have to sail back to Fuchsia City, where her parents were still staying with Koga. She would get on the next boat home, shedding a few tears and waving goodbye to all her friends, knowing she'll most likely see them again. And call them every now and then for that matter.

The remaining five walked through Saffron, where Kelly lived, though the only person that would miss her was Len, and considering he lived a few hours north, they wouldn't be out of contact for too long. Alexandra left northward with her brother, giving Jacob a kiss and a hug before headed down the road. They were of course going to meet sometime soon. Jacob prepared to turn towards Celadon, alone, when he realized there were still two people behind him.

"Aren't you guys gonna go home too?"

"Why do that when we still gotta stop Team Rocket?" Bill replied.

"I don't think my mom will appreciate you guys living at our house for more than a few months, let alone how long it may possibly take for Rocket to actually continue moving."

John spoke up next, "Nah bro, it's fiiiiiiiiine. Your mom loves us, doesn't she?"

"HA! She loves Alexandra more than she loves me!" The three laughed as they continued the short walk down the road. Just a few hours later, Jacob was home with his family, and two extras, but it was alright because she had already hired contractors to expand the house, relying mainly on Jacob's winnings to pay for it.

"Why would I sink the money I earned into making the house bigger!"

"Listen punk! It's not just you, your sister also paid for some, and I've been saving for a long time for this! Besides, you're hardly an adult yourself, so what's yours is mine!" Mom logic. Nobody could beat it.

"Well fine then. These two will be staying with us in those extensions."

"For how long?"

Jacob shrugged. "I dunno, two, maybe three?"

"Two are three what?"

"Months, years, decades? Details, mother, details." She groans out in faux agony but reluctantly agrees.

"You jackasses will help out around the house too you know. No pokemon training every day and night just to come back and dirty up my house!" She laughed to herself and walked away from the exchange. Summer was almost over, and the house was bigger than before, but also had more people living in it than was previously mentioned. Apparently, a letter had come for Jacob during the tournament, from his father living on one of the Orange Islands. He didn't very much like his father, and can see why his mother divorced him, but he still appreciated the sentiments in saying that he was proud of his son.

Few months would pass, Fall began again, as well as the league challenge season starting anew. Kids from cities all over would attempt to attain all seven badges, and create a name for themselves in the pokemon league. Erika was busier than ever, battling countless kids from age 9 (escorted by their parents from a city or two over) to age 20 (attempting to show the world that if a little girl can win the league challenge, so can they). Apparently Heidi's gym was one of the hardest to overcome, leaving every challenger to skip it and come back, thinking they would get strong enough to beat her after beating Green.

They couldn't do it.

Roy and Mike frequently visited Jacob's household to discuss some matters, as well as simply hang out and battle pokemon. Of course they would journey off together for a few days and come back with a new pokemon now and again. Jacob was able to catch a Skarmory about his travels, while Bill stuck only to his Ninetales. That is, until she desired more company. A Jolteon would join the ranks as well as another Alakazam, considering their commonality in Kanto. Several more caught several other pokemon, and Winter would set in soon enough.

Jacob and Alexandra went on dates often, and would normally spend the night at one of their homes or the other, because of the long one-way travel distance. Neither family seemed to mind, and one way was an excuse to hang out with Len more than he had to anyway. Winter, along with Christmas, would come and go quickly, the new year starting very slowly, when the pokemon under the trainers began to grow antsy. They decide now would be a good time to restart the League Challenge, as getting into the tournament all together would be a lot of fun. John and Bill followed Jacob, as well as Roy and Mike, who could be contacted with a quick call with a cell phone. Len and Alexandra would happily come along, Len leaving his Chansey at home to care for the other pokemon.

Kelly was someone Jacob didn't personally want to tote around, but he didn't care as long as she stayed hooked on Len. Secretly, everyone else kinda thought that, but didn't care enough to make a deal of it. They would call Heidi and tell them they were on their way to kick her ass for the badge they were sure to earn, to which she would laugh out loud and brag about all the challengers that have been stuck on the island because they can't beat her. Cinnabar, after being renewed, was built much like the old Cinnabar island, the Gym at the base of the volcano, stores in the middle of the island, etc, but also built up their hotels with "Volcano Glass". It was a croc of Tauros-crap, but people believed that every window in Cinnabar was fashioned from the ashes and rock that the magma left behind on the island, which made it that much fancier for some reason. As a result of Heidi being extremely hard to defeat, these hotels have been getting a lot of business, and the island is making more money than ever.

By the middle of spring, the large group of travelers had made their rounds and eventually reached Koga's Gym. They would ask if he's heard anything about Rocket recently, to which he would respond, "No." They haven't seemed to move since the incident in Mt. Moon, and the kids knew that the Rockets had all the DNA they needed, but weren't sure if they would do anything boldly again. The challenge went smoothly, and they were five badges in.

Erika and Green got married near the end of Spring. It was a small affair, only friends and family, but sadly, Heidi was too busy to come. The Gym Challenges were most likely taking their toll on the 13 year old girl, though Jacob figured that she had earned a well-deserved break. By the beginning of summer, the group had collected 7 badges, and made their way to Cinnabar, only a few weeks away from the start of the tournament. Heidi was excited to see everyone again, and couldn't possibly wait any longer to see her old friends. She met them all at the docks from Pallet Town and greeted them all with a smile and a gift. The gift being the badge they should have contended for, instead of just having them being given to them.

"What's the deal? I wanted to battle you!"

"Yeah! Me too!"

"Well," she started, "To be honest, I don't think my pokemon would be able to take it. You guys are super strong, and so are they, but every day they keep battling the same people, who keep getting stronger and stronger. They're really tired, and need a break." A Magby poked its head around Heidi's small leg, then back behind her.

"You haven't trained Magby at all?"

"Huh? Oh! Hey, what are you doing here?" She knelt down and patted it's head, telling it to hurry on back to the Gym. "He doesn't like to battle much, besides, he's really adorable!" She giggled and showed them around the island. She was greeted up and down the street by everyone she passed, mostly challengers, others were residents, and the like. There was always a happy and smiling face when Heidi was present, save for the people that couldn't beat her. She was happy she could see her friends one more time before the start of the next tournament, which she would most definitely be attending with them. They said their goodbyes and it wouldn't be long until the all reached Indigo Plateau with their 8 badges. Summer was starting, along with the tournament, and this time, Jacob was ready.

"It feels great to be back here. I can't believe it was only a year ago that-"

"That I kicked your ass and took the tournament by storm-"

"Until you got up to me that is!" The tandem of banter between Len, Jacob, and Heidi would go on like this for several minutes at a time. It wouldn't bother anyone else, but they would tire themselves out with it.

They were able to afford another great room, with funding from Heidi's bank account as a Gym Leader, and Mike's cash-stores from whatever, as well as everyone's winnings from the other various Gyms across Kanto. Heidi clung to Roy for almost the entirety of the first few days for some reason, (she probably missed him the most), and everything is much like the last year. Everyone's relaxed, everyone's obtained new pokemon (and evolved those that weren't complete last year), and they still had the idea that Team Rocket would make a move sometime soon in the back of their minds.


	79. Ch 79: No, We're only half way through!

Chapter 79. I bet you thought this was over.

The TV was on, early in the morning. The news was playing. Just local stories based around the trainers in the tournament and whatnot. It's around 7AM, and the only person up is Mike. He's on his laptop not paying attention to the television, going over what he learned about Team Rocket, seeing if he missed anything. The television makes a louder noise than usual. It's a breaking news event. Probably nothing important.

"…" Mike takes a glance at the television to see a dirty man who looked 20 years older than he actually was. He didn't look familiar, however, the name being shown across the bottom of the screen was a name he knew.

"Professor Birch, after missing for over a year now, has finally been found by authorities!"

"Wh…. WHAT?!" He says this loud enough to stir others from their sleep, save Bill, who grunts like a Snorlax and rolls back over.

"Wassamattah?" Jacob asks as he rolls awake, shirtless and next to Alexandra. Mike blushes at the sight of the girl next to Jacob in a tank-top and shorts, but he lets that translate into urgency at what's happening on the television.

"Look! Professor Birch!" The whole of them wake up enough to see the headline on the television. Faces filled with shock and horror fill the room.

"Th-this means that-"

"That they've completed whatever _THING_ they're working on!" Mike went into a small panic.

"Calm down dude," Bill finally rolled awake, "smart Bill will have the Master Ball done in no-time. We got no worries!" He fell back asleep quickly.

"He's right, but we should probably call him to find out anyway."

An hour of trying to call him later-…

"Huh hah, wha-?"

"BILL!"

"WHOAH!"

"Knock it off Bill-"

"I just woke up, the hell dude. Who is this!?"

"It's Roy, you remember, Roy? The dude! That guy! Huh?"

"Yeah yeah I remember you. The hell do you want? I just managed to get to sleep an hour ago!"

"How is the Master Ball coming along?"

"Heh?! Oh, fine, fine. It'll be done soon. Soon." Bill starts to doze on the other side of the line.

"Well, you go back to sleep, call us back later today to talk more."

"Huh, oh. Yeah. No. Maybe. Gnight."

"Yeah-uh…" The dial tone popped up signaling the end of their conversation. "It's coming along fine," Roy says to the group.

"Weeehhh. who cares. Let's just go-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" Heidi falls back asleep, not seeming to know or care.

"Well, whatever they have, it's gotta be pretty damn big. So wherever they decide to release it, someone will notice."

"No kidding dippy," Mike says to Roy, "They're going to tear apart the world with whatever they have! Of course they want people to notice it!" Mike starts grinding his teeth in anger.

"Calm down bud, if anything they'll release it here, at the tournament, and we're already all here to stop it!"

"I guess you're right. But we have to be ready for it."

The first round of the tournament went on without a hitch, the second battle as well. John's battle was next. It was the usual 3 on 3 match, his opponent being some man named Eric from Lavender Town. John would of course, open the battle with his Heracross, while his opponent releases a Kabutops. The action started quickly, Megahorn against Slash, a clash that rang throughout the stadium and forced each pokemon back. John saw that this battle would take a long time to get through.

Heracross dashed forward to land another Megahorn, but Aqua Jet countered its speed as Kabutops slammed into the bug-type. Heracross stood back up and used Counter, slamming back into Kabutops with a force double that of the previous attack, nearly knocking it out in that one blow. Kabutops sped back around and attempted a Guillotine attack, missing slightly, allowing Heracross to grab it and use Seismic Toss. Heracross jumped up, using its wings to get even further into the sky, and began the descent. Kabutops was struggling, and used its claw to chop at the arms holding it. Heracross tried to hold on, but one slash from the giant claw cut deep into Heracross' arm, nearly cutting it off. Blood leaked out, forcing Heracross to let go and spiral down towards his trainer, as the crowd "Ohh"'s and jeers at the person standing across from John.

The legal maneuver didn't sit well with the crowd, considering the danger pokemon were put into already, and the explanation given to the crowd was that Kabutops would not be penalized for using it's own biology to survive the fight. Heracross was in great pain, it's hand hanging on by a thread to its arm. Heracross clenched its teeth, tore the rest of its hand off, and threw it to the side, yelping in pain for a second, then calming back down. A bit more blood and pus leaked out from its severed hand, and the stump on the end of its arm. It was a Bug-type, so the hand would grow back, but for now it was a severe disadvantage. Kabutops darted forward, plowing its hard, flat skull into Heracross' body, throwing it backwards onto its back. Heracross would get up slowly, nursing its arm, as it attempted to get back into the action. It flew forward, readying another Megahorn, ramming into Kabutops hard. Kabutops would try to counter with a Rock Slide attack, but a quick protect would shield Heracross for a split second.

Heracross would jump back, and immediately find Kabutops on top of him, getting slammed hard into the ground with an Aqua Jet tactic that left Heracross twitching in the dust. It would be unable to battle any further. John recalled his buddy and let the next pokeball hit the ground with a thud. Escavalier would be the next pokemon to come out, and it would certainly bring a hard fight. Escavalier dashed forward with an Iron Head attack, fiercely slamming into Kabutops, taking the opponent's pokemon out at the same time.

Escavalier's next opponent will be a Farfetch'd. Not a pokemon that was used often, but this one looked extremely powerful. A quick Fury Attack demonstrated its power, and knocked aside the Escavalier, slamming it into the ground. Escavalier would get up and retaliate with an X-Scissor, sending the Flying-type flying backwards. An Aerial Ace attack would come next, followed by a Slash with its leek. Escavalier hardly felt either of them, and knocked it down with a Double-edge.

Farfetched would get up and fly high into the sky to avoid any direct confrontation. It began to glow, and Escavalier saw what was coming next and used Defense Curl, preparing for what was coming next. Farfetch'd would slam into Escavalier at high speeds, but do little damage as the Steel-type swept it aside and countered with another harsh X-Scissor. Farfetch'd was looking beat, until it was able to use DoubleTeam, and throw everyone in the stadium for a loop. It would circle around and Aerial Ace in, not being able to miss, and deal a good amount of damage over time. Escavalier couldn't use Earthquake to get rid of the clones, and had to hack away one at a time until only a few clones remained. The time and energy spent on beating down the clones drained Escavalier immensely. The few clones remaining began to glow once more, and they charged up their Sky Attacks all at once. Escavalier would spot the real one last second, and ram into it headlong, knocking both of them out simultaneously.


	80. Ch 80: End of the World

A/N: Summer Vacation may mean one of two things: 1. I write every day and can provide quality chapters once per week. or 2. I don't write at all and barely update at all over the summer. Let's hope for number 1 because things are just getting good!

Chapter 80 End of the World

"IT HAS COME DOWN TO THE FINAL POKEMON FOR BOTH TRAINERS, HOW WILL ERIC REACT NOW?"

John thought he had this one in the bag. Nothing, absolutely nothing could stop him from winning this battle now. Nothing but… "What is that?" From a black pokeball materialized a large… Bug pokemon? John, nor anyone else had seen anything like it. It stood around 10 feet tall, maybe a bit higher, it had a metallic body, and was somewhat in the shape of a Kabutops. The large cannon on its back however, didn't look good at all. Whatever this thing was, John was confident he could take it out.

The only problem was, it wasn't concerned with winning this battle at all.

"Ahahahahaha!" Eric starts laughing out loud. "Do you know what this is boy?"

"IS THIS ONE OF THE NEWLY DISCOVERED POKEMON FROM A DISTANT CONTINENT!?" The MC was really into it, seeing the new form in front of him.

"No, but that doesn't mean I won't win anyway!" John responds fiercely, ready to pull out his next pokemon.

"You have no idea…" The pokemon readied itself as the cannon on its back began to emanate a bright white light, then fired it straight up into the air at the blimp circling above. The beam pierced the flying object and immediately caused it to explode. This is when people started screaming as they all tried to flee the stadium at the same time, but the unusual pokemon readied another shot from its cannon; this time a red beam of light, and aimed it straight up at the people in the crowd. Nothing could get in the way of its attack as it hurtled forward at the speed of light straight into innocent men and women, exploding on impact. Nothing remained but a circle where people stood, all dematerialized along with the seats in the immediate area. Luckily, Jacob and his friends hadn't started moving yet, as the rest of them hopped the wall to join John at his side.

At this point Eric had taken the MC's microphone, "AHAHAHAHA, THIS IS THE POWER WE HAVE CREATED! YOU ALL THOUGHT WE'VE LEFT THIS EARTH, BUT WE ONLY NEEDED TIME TO COMPLETE OUR PROJECT! THIS IS WHAT WE'VE MADE! THE ULTIMATE MANMADE POKEMON! TEAM ROCKET PRESENTS…

GENESECT!" Helicopters came flying in from all directions as people continually left the arena, being lowered down on ropes were members of the Special Ops Ranger Squad, but they too were blown away by the ultimate pokemon's cannon. From outside of the stadium, a Hyper Beam made direct contact with the pokemon called Genesect, as Lance came flying in on his Dragonite. Likewise, Will Teleported in with his Alakazam, Agatha appeared in front of them with her Gengar, and Bruno burrowed his way in on his Steelix.

"What are you kids doing here?" Bruno started shouting, "get out of here! We'll handle this!" Steelix began to shake the earth as the other pokemon went into action as well, combining their moves to counter the "ultimate pokemon's" attacks. While Jacob and his friends all ran towards the exit, a stray laser beam from the cannon on Genesect's back hit the bleachers in front of them, sending rubble everywhere.

"Quick! That way!" Roy and Torchie led them towards an emergency exit. Again, Genesect had fired a beam to destroy their means of escape. With nowhere else to turn, the group began climbing the wall back up so they can leave up the stairs. The battle behind them continued to rage on, even the most powerful pokemon of the Elite Four not being able to scratch the giant metallic being. Will's Alakazam had already been taken out, and he had moved on to his Xatu, while Agatha's Gengar was running low on steam too. Dragonite was switched out for a Salemence, and Bruno's Steelix was changed to a Hitmonchan. The four most powerful trainers in the region couldn't even hold a candle to this monster.

"Jacob! Come on!" Jake turned back around to see his friends running up the stairs, away from the fight, but also saw another giant beam of light hit the section of seats immediately above where Alexandra and John were standing. With rubble falling yet again, and a scream from the girl, dust flew everywhere as Alexandra stumbled down the stairs into Jacob's arms.

"Where's John!?"

"He pushed me! Oh my god I hope he's okay!" She started bawling before they even saw the scene before them. Jacob carried her up the stairs to see Bill, Len, Mike, and Roy all try to move a huge boulder of cement.

"WHERE'S JOHN!?"

"d-d-down here?" Half-way under the rubble in a pool of blood lay one of his best friends.

"H-HOLY.. COME ON GUYS!" Jacob began to join the four others, seating Alexandra down next to the bawling Heidi and Kelly.

"G-guys…" John coughed up some blood. The boulder landed square on his body, from his stomach down. "There's no chance… here…" He hands his belt of pokemon to his friends. "Take care of them, guys. Go. h-hhurry…"

"No John! We're getting you out of here!" Bill started crying too.

"JUS-hhrrrggg… GO!" His Forretress materializes out of one of the balls on the belt, and sits on the ground next to him, nuzzling its master. "Get outta here dude… go with the rest of them." It shook it's body in the sense that it was saying, 'No, I'm staying'. The girls couldn't even watch the scene unfold, with their hands in their faces all crying their eyes out.

Jacob turned back around, the pokemon of the Elite Four began to dwindle, as a Flygon from Lance took center stage. Bruno's Hitmonlee was also out on the field, and Agatha's Arbok was unable to do any damage. Will's Reuniclus was encountering the same problem, as Genesect remained standing without a scratch anywhere on its body. Jacob turned back around to the scene in front of him, John was dying, everyone crying, there was nothing he could do… nothing at all… He kneeled down next to his friend, "We'll take care of your pokemon… Come on guys. we gotta keep moving before-" Another of Genesect's attacks strikes the area near them, flying rubble barely missing Alexandra.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" John coughed up more blood as Jacob and Mike led the group to another exit. They scurried across broken ground and plastic and whatever other rubble was still lying around. The police and rescue choppers couldn't even get down because of all the action continuing on the battlefield, each of the Elite Four members down to their Fourth most powerful pokemon.

"Forretress. Why'd you stay?"

_"Because I love you."_ His pokemon began tearing as he utters his first, and last words to his best friend.

"…I love you too Forretress… can you make sure my friends leave safely?"

It shook its body again like before and stayed by his trainer's side.

"Get out of here.. please.." It shook again. "Go. now" It shook once more. "then go out with a bang. help the elite four…" He lay his hand on the top of the Forretress' head and tilted his head back. Now the Elite Four members are down to their Fifth most powerful pokemon. John's hand slides off Forretress and hits the ground with a thud. His most loyal pokemon floats up and away from his master, taking his final command to heart. It flies into the fray of the battle, past Hyper Beams and Psybeams, and Dynamic Punches and pounds itself into the chest of the pokemon called Genesect, forcing it to stumble. Forretress began to glow white, then as it let a single tear run down its face, it Self Destructed. Sadly, its sacrifice was in vain, as the lifeless body of another pokemon lay in front of Genesect, who still had not a single dent in its armor. The Elite Four couldn't do a single thing to it, and they retreat back to the main city of Indigo Plateau, where they help stragglers escape the City. Lance flies out of a desolate stadium to try to help one more person onto the back of his other Dragonite, where he would take off again, not looking back at the destruction the Genesect caused in the city.

Jacob had escaped along with his friends on the backs of their pokemon, being carried by Hydreigon, Metagross, Skarmory, Braviary, and Honchkrow. Jacob turns around to see Genesect moving out of the stadium into the rest of the city, continuing to cause destruction throughout the city. He didn't know how it could be stopped, but for now, they would escape to Cinnabar Island where they would be safe… for now.

A few hours later, they landed safely in Cinnabar, Heidi's parent's waiting outside of the gym for their little girl. A teary reunion and a small funeral for their best friend ends the night, but none of them could sleep. After Alexandra bawled her eyes out, all the guys bowed their heads silently, and Heidi sobbing quietly, they were extremely restless.

News reports of Genesect confirmed that it is indeed Team Rocket's doing, and all night they were tracking Genesect's movements. It went from Indigo Plateu to Viridian City, where Green tried to fight it off and ultimately failed, fleeing the city with the rest of its citizens. The same happened wherever Genesect roamed, Pewter City fell, Cerulean, then Saffron, and Jacob couldn't watch the television any longer when Erika did her best to fight off Genesect. Thankfully none of her pokemon died in battle, but it was still extremely frightening for him. Along the way in every city, there was a massacre of every man woman and child that crossed Genesect's path. None were spared, and anyone that couldn't escape were ultimately left for dead because nobody had the strength nor the courage to take on this monster. Rescue crews were denied access into all burning cities as the horrible beast shot down every attempt at entry into whatever city it was in, and only after all the buildings were leveled would it move onward to the next one. Every city on the mainland ultimately fell to ruin, while Jacob and his friends could only sit and watch.

Later that early morning, a Pidgeot came and landed in front of the gym, carrying Green, Erika, and Jacob's mother. Close behind was a Charizard with Len and Alex's parents on back. After another teary reunion, Green lets them in on a plan, away from the ears of the more responsible adults afraid for their children.

"Tell anyone who comes here to evacuate to the Sevii or the Orange islands, or anywhere else like Johto or Hoenn for now, just tell them to get out." With this the evacuation plans began for the citizens of Cinnabar. Much like a year ago when the eruption occurred, all pokemon and humans alike were escorted to boats and led away from the Kanto Region, Jacob's and Len's family making their way to the Sevii islands.

"YOU BETTER KEEP MY SON SAFE YOU ASS!" shouted Jacob's mother as the boat left the dock.

"DON'T WORRY! I'LL KEEP HIM AND ERIKA SAFE!" replied Green. His mother-in-law silently cried for a bit, but knew her son was strong, and her idiot son-in-law would keep him safe.

Heidi's family left with the others, knowing Heidi was strong enough to stay with her friends here on the island. She _is _the Gym Leader after all, and would probably refuse to leave the island to protect it anyway.

"Are you sure you don't want to go Alexandra?"

"It's okay, I know as long as I'm with you I'll be safe Jacob."

The boat left, leaving nothing else to personally be worried about in Kanto. Erika would stay with her husband, Green, and Heidi will protect her island with her friends. Evacuations all over Kanto are all succeeding at first, then ultimately fail when Genesect interrupts the plans. Although a selfish thought, Jacob was happy his family was able to get out first, along with everyone on Cinnabar.

"I can't stay here, most of my more powerful pokemon are weak, and wouldn't help at all… Same for Erika. So we will go to the Johto region for now…"

"Take care of my sister, Green."

"You know I will."

Green and his wife took a boat with citizens of Cinnabar and made their way to Goldenrod city. The docks were brightly lit with the fires in the sky from the mainland, and hundreds of boats' silhouettes could be seen in the shadows of the flames, bright enough to light Cinnabar.

After a few hours and redirecting a few dozen boats to the other islands, a news report stated Genesect was making its way towards Cinnabar island. With the sun rising in the East, a figure could be seen screaming towards the small bit of land still untouched by its horror. It flew using the cannon on its back as a jet engine, pulling in its arms and legs to make its body more streamline. Within seconds of first seeing it, Genesect slammed to the ground in a huge smash, creating a small crater around the landing point. It stood up slowly, bending each joint to prepare it for the inevitable destruction it would cause.

Heidi leads the others out of her Gym, all their most powerful pokemon beside them. Heidi and her Arcanine; Bill and his Ninetales; Roy and Torchie; Jacob and Munch; and Len and Tyranitar all stand tall in front of the behemoth. Alexandra and Kelly aren't in the picture, waiting at their respective boats.

"You know the plan, right?" Heidi was nervous.

Roy replied, "Fight it as hard as we can. If we can't succeed, make it to our designated boats, drive them to the designated waypoint, meet up again, go to Cerulean cape, oversee Master Ball plans, etc. etc."

"You know the emergency location, right?"

"Meet at Seafoam Islands.."

"… Is there any reason why we can't go to Hoenn or Johto like the rest of them?"

Bill spoke up, "Because Smart Bill and Fabiano are still making the only thing that can stop it. We have to stay in Kanto so they can- or rather their tracker pokemon, can find us."

"Well…. are we ready?" Len asked the group. Genesect looked down at them and their pokemon, all now growling, hissing, and roaring at the large, metallic beast in front of them.

"For John," Jacob whispered. Munch gathered energy in a ball and fired a bright purple and yellow beam directly at Genesect. The battle for Kanto has begun.


	81. Ch 81: The Flight of the Four

Author's Note: Be working on chapter 82. Getting really into it. It's amazing so far. CPU overheats. Memory of 82 is lost. No motivation to try to recreate it. Sadness overwhelms me. I'll try to come up with something within the next two weeks but here, i hope the suspense can tie you over for that long. (at least you don't have to wait a full month, like for the Shinkegi no Kyojin manga).

Chapter 81 Flight of the Four

Thirty minutes into the battle, Genesect had not lost any stamina. Hyper Beams and other attacks continued to graze past the trainers and their pokemon. Munch was taken out a while ago, and Jacob is well into Metagross. He's about to fall soon as well. The other fighters' pokemon can't handle all of the heat, and Bill's second pokemon, Hitmonchan, falls. Roy's Blaziken is still darting around the area, but it is so tired and worn out that one direct attack will kill it for sure. Heidi's Arcanine is weak, but Chandelure and Charizard are dealing massive amounts of damage on top of it. A bright light, a beam into the sky, Charizard is struck, Charizard falls and slams into the ground hard. Heidi returns it and replaces it with Flareon. Genesect recognizes the new challenger and begins focusing it down as well.

Hydreigon is weakening, Tyranitar backing it up. Len's pokemon are becoming so very tired of this fight. Mike's Alakazam and Meganium were doing all they could, but Genesect seemed to not get hurt at all.

"This friggin thing won't go down! Torchie, get back here! You're done for today!" Blaziken would initially refuse, but accepted the pokeball's beam and re-entered a resting state. Porygon Z would come out as well.

"This thing just won't go down!" Bill would release a Jolteon he caught earlier the past year, and it would powerfully enter the battle.

"We have to leave soon…"

"WHAT, JACOB!?"

"I SAID WE GOTTA LEAVE SOON!" Bill agreed, Genesect was not losing any ground.

"GO, LEAVE NOW, HEIDI, DISTRACT HIM!" As if it was a rehearsed routine, Heidi released all her pokemon at once, and commanded a devastating Fire Blast. This let the others start running straight away from the fight, Len and Mike make a mad dash towards the boat with Kelly, Len's still girl friend, waiting. Jacob and Bill start running as fast as possible towards the readied boat with Alexandra waiting for them. Roy runs to Heidi's side as they begin their part of the plan. Heidi returned all her Fire-types and now Genesect was staring down at them. It began to ready another shot, when they began their short sprint to the ocean behind them.

Genesect prepared its flight form, and followed the two that were on foot, leaving the other 6 to their escapes. Roy grabbed Heidi's hand and jumped to the side into a building that was still standing. The two ran through it until they reached the back door, where another smaller boat was waiting for them.

"I forgot to ask," Heidi started, "do you know how to drive one of these things?!"

"No. But it's not a bad time to learn!" They hopped in when the building exploded behind them, Genesect slamming through it. Roy pulled a lever, the boat rumbled into life, and they sped off over the water in the direction of Pallet Town. A laser struck the water behind them, giving them a boost of speed with the surge, but spraying the two with the salty water. Heidi held onto the boat's railing for dear life as Genesect prepared another shot. Pallet town was in sight, but it was far too far away if they were to get marooned now.

The boat shook in the water, Genesect still closing in, a blast of fire, a huge roar of noise, an explosion, flying, a slam, splash, cool, wet, weightless, floating… a hand in his, it feels… lifeless… a weight underneath him, movement through the coolness, a roar in the distance, floating away from the chaos, a large breath, air, coughing, choking, on the back of something slippery, it was Mantine. Wait, what, pieces of the boat all around them. Heidi, she isn't breathing, what the hell happened? "Mantine, keep swimming to Pallet as fast as you can!" It took the order and continued, the two above the water.

Roy scrambled on top of Heidi's motionless body. "HEIDI! HEIDI WAKE UP!" He started pressing down on her chest, beginning CPR. It was difficult to do on the back of a moving pokemon.

"HEIDI WAKE UP!" He continues to press on her chest. He brings up her chin, and presses his lips to hers, breathing into her. He fills her lungs several times, and continues to push down on her chest. Tears are streaming down his face. "No… No!" He pressed a few more times before she began coughing. His tears continued to roll down his face and he waited a few seconds before bringing Heidi close in a hug.

"W-what happened…?"

"Don't worry. We're safe now…" Mantine continued on full speed ahead towards the ruins of Pallet town, the sun becoming clear through the clouds, revealing a bright orange sky.

* * *

"What was that explosion!?"

"That was Roy's boat!"

"Goddamn! We have to turn to save them!"

"No, we can't Bill, we gotta keep going forward!"

"Jacob please, we have to turn at least!"

"NO, Alexandra!"

"Come on! We have to-"

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU…. I can't.. no.."

"Sit down, Jacob, I'll take the wheel." Their boat was headed in the direction of Celadon City. True, Vermilion was closer, but that was predictable. Plus there was also supplies at the ready in Jacob's house for the three to live on.

"We'll stick to the plan. We have to beat this thing…" Jacob was looking frantic as ever, his mind on very grim things.

"Don't worry, we'll make it. We'll be fine." Alexandra held his hand and rested her head on his chest. She reassuringly wrapped her arm around his back and squeezed him tightly.

"We got this." Bill looked ahead at the Orange sky, the skylines of the cities ahead littering the view. There was smoke rising from some, and others had building still collapsing, but it was their only solace.

* * *

"We've gotten past Seafoam, but we are going to have to stop and re-fuel at Fuchsia."

"Baby, I'm scared.."

"Don't worry Kelly, I'll make sure you're alright." Mike shrugged at the two love birds, and readied himself to make the turn around some jagged rocks. They had passed Seafoam Islands a few dozen minutes ago, and Fuchsia was just ahead. Their plan was to sail to the Cerulean Cape, where they could get the Master Ball directly from Bill and Antonio when they were done. The gas in the tank, however, would state otherwise.

"We don't have another solid plan to meet with the others."

"But we know where they are headed, and where the objective is. We MIGHT meet them in the middle somewhere."

"We have no way to communicate except for carrier Pidgeys, and we don't even have a Pidgey." Len sounded more depressed with each passing second.

"I can try to teleport with Alakazam, to their designated areas, and devise a plan with them. Because I'm not sure our walkie-talkies can reach such a far distance such as Lavender to Pallet.. Alakazam might be able to detect and reach their location through teleporting, but it's still risky…"

"I'm not sure what we can do…"

"The most we can do for now, is wait."

"Wait? For how long?"

"I have no idea. I'll try to make contact tomorrow."

He would try, and Alakazam would fail. Each group knew where the other was supposed to head, but they had no long term plan that would work. Falling back to Seafoam Islands together wouldn't work anymore. The most they could do was try to contact each other through flying or tracker pokemon, and simply wait.

Each group would wait for a long, long time, before ever establishing communication again.


End file.
